2026 Coastal Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Tournament Basics
Format
Traditional bracket
Site
For the fifth consecutive season and sixth since 2020, the CAA Tournament will take place at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Southeast Washington, D.C.
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Participants
With Campbell’s arrival in 2024, the CAA’s membership jumped to 14, but that number dropped to 13 for this season, as Delaware left the conference, and many familiar rivals, for the unfamiliar environs of CUSA and FBS. As a result, there is only one Friday first-round game in 2026.
Schedule
Downloadable PDF Bracket
TV/Streaming Info
FloHoops ($) will stream all games before the semifinals.
First Round (Fri. 3/6)
Gm. 1: (13) Northeastern 88, (12) North Carolina A&T (11-19, 4-14) 72
Second Round (Sat. 3/7)
Gm. 2: (9) Campbell 96, (8) Stony Brook (17-15, 9-9) 89
Gm. 3: (13) Northeastern (7-23, 2-16) vs. (5) Drexel (16-15, 10-8), 2:30*
The Dragons swept: 83-78 (home) on 1/24 and 70-61 (away) on 2/19.
Gm. 4: (10) Hampton (13-18, 7-11) vs. (7) Towson (17-14, 9-9), 6
Home split: Pirates 63-62 on 12/31 and Tigers 82-50 on 1/31.
Gm. 5: (11) Elon (14-17, 6-12) vs. (6) William & Mary (19-11, 10-8), 8:30*
The Phoenix swept: 79-76 (home) on 1/29 and 81-78 (away) on 2/14.
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Quarterfinals (Sun. 3/8)
Gm. 6: (9) Campbell (15-17, 8-10) vs. (1) UNCW (26-5, 15-3), 12
The Seahawks swept: 78-75 (home) on 1/17 and 73-68 (away) on 2/21.
Gm. 7: Gm. 3 winner vs. (4) Monmouth (17-14, 11-7), 2:30*
Gm. 8: Gm. 4 winner vs. (2) Charleston (21-10, 14-4), 6
Gm. 9: Gm. 5 winner vs. (3) Hofstra (21-10, 12-6), 8:30*
Semifinals (Mon. 3/9)
CBSSN will air both games.
Gm. 10: Gm. 6 winner vs. Gm. 7 winner, 6
Gm. 11: Gm. 8 winner vs. Gm. 9 winner, 8:30*
Championship (Tues. 3/10)
Gm. 12: Semifinal winners, 7 (CBSSN)
Mayhem Potential
Data originally posted by Bob Vetrone Jr. on Twitter in 2020 with my own additions for the seasons beyond.
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1 seed (5): 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2024
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2 seed (6): 2011, 2012, 2016, 2019, 2023, 2025
Since 2011, the CAA’s top two seeds have taken home the title 10 times, with the No. 3 seed claiming two of the remaining four. UNCW will look to do what Charleston did in 2023 and 2024—namely win a first title as the No. 2 seed and repeating as the No. 1.
NCAA Seeding Record In The 68-Team Era
Years with an NCAA win are in bold.
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8 seed (1): 2011 (at-large)
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9 seed (1): 2011 (automatic)
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11 seed (1): 2011 (at-large)
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12 seed (3): 2012, 2017, 2023
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13 seed (5): 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2024
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16 seed (2): 2013 (First Four), 2021
While the CAA has recorded NCAA Tournament wins since the field expanded to 68 in 2011—when then member VCU went from the then-new First Four to the Final Four, all of them belong to teams who are no longer members. George Mason is now in the Atlantic 10, while Old Dominion returned to the Sun Belt after a stay in Conference USA. The last CAA tournament win was courtesy of another former member, as a 16th-seeded James Madison squad won a 2013 First Four game.
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Things don’t look much rosier when you look at the current membership. Both Hampton (2015) and NC A&T (2013) have First Four wins, while Monmouth defeated the Pirates in the 2006 play-in game. You have to go back to 2002 to see find the last time a current CAA member won an NCAA game.
Both UNCW and Hofstra are in the NET Top 100 as of the time of writing this, with William & Mary and Charleston in the Top 150. The Seahawks have consistently been a 13 seed in my projections, and they and the Pride are likely to end up there with the auto bid. The Tribe and Cougars are likely 14s, with any other winner probably ending up lower.
Last NCAA Tournament Appearances
UNCW: 2025 (14 seed, 1st Round)
College of Charleston: 2024 (13 seed, 1st Round)
Drexel: 2021 (16 seed, 1st Round)
Northeastern: 2019 (13 seed, 1st Round)
Hampton: 2016 (16 seed, 1st Round, MEAC member)
North Carolina A&T: 2013 (16 seed, 1st Round, MEAC member)
Stony Brook: 2013 (13 seed, 1st Round, America East member)
Monmouth: 2006 (16 seed, Round of 64 (play-in winner), NEC member)
Hofstra: 2001 (13 seed, 1st Round, America East member)—2020 CAA Tournament Champion
Campbell: 1992 (16 seed, 1st Round, Big South member)
Towson: 1991 (16 seed, 1st Round, East Coast Conference member)
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Elon and William & Mary have never qualified for the NCAA Tournament, with the Tribe one of the three remaining original Division I members to have never reached done so.