7 Potential Winners Of The NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Award

Predicting who’s going to win the NCAA Tournament MVP award is every bit as difficult, if not harder, than winning an NCAA Tournament pool.

Not only do you have to predict which player is going to have a great tournament, but you also likely need to predict which team is going to win the whole thing. Since 1980, only Hakeem Olajuwon has won the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award without his team winning the tournament. That came in 1983 when Houston’s famous Phi Slama Jama team lost to Jim Valvano and NC State.

This year, there are a handful of leading candidates, with two particular standout candidates. But there are also a number of star players who could well sneak in and steal the award if they could improbably lead their team to victory.

Top Candidates To Win NCAA Tournament MVP

Logic would tell you to simply select the best player from the best team to win the award. But recent history would suggest that’s not always a sure thing.

Yes, Walter Clayton Jr. was Florida’s best player a year ago when he won the award. But neither Tristen Newton nor Adama Sanogo was UConn’s best player when they won the award in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Interestingly enough, only two of the last six winners of the award are currently playing in the NBA. This year’s field appears to look a bit different, with a number of big-name 2026 NBA Draft prospects leading the way.

But that’s clearly no guarantee that they’ll walk away with the award come the championship game on April 6. Still, here are seven of the best bets to contend for this year’s NCAA Tournament MVP award.

7) AJ Dybantsa – BYU

AJ Dybantsa might well be the best college basketball player in the country and the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

The former No. 1 overall recruit in the country has lived up to the billing and more with the Cougars. He leads the country in scoring at 25.3 points per game while also pulling down 6.7 rebounds per game and adding 3.8 assists.

Dybantsa is a dynamic, three-level scorer who has the ability to completely take over any game he’s playing in. The only problem he has is that the Cougars enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the West Region and have a long row to hoe if they want to even make the national championship game, let alone win it.

6) Darius Acuff Jr. – Arkansas

Like Dybantsa, Darius Acuff Jr. has the ability to completely take over the game with his scoring. At 22.9 points per game, Acuff is the nation’s third-leading scorer, and he does so while shooting 44.5 percent from beyond the arc and dishing out 6.5 assists per game.

While Acuff, like Dybantsa, will have a tough road ahead as he and the Arkansas Razorbacks try to make a run as the No. 4 seed in the West Region, we have a bit more proof that Acuff and company can do so after they ripped through the SEC Tournament.

Acuff averaged 30.3 points and 7.7 assists per game to lead the Razorbacks to wins over Oklahoma, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt.

Sure, the Razorbacks avoided both top-seeded Florida and second-seeded Alabama, but momentum is a real thing in sports, and it’s clear Acuff and company are carrying it into the big dance.

5) Darryn Peterson – Kansas

By now, just about everyone in the college basketball world is familiar with Darryn Peterson’s story. The No. 2 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class has been a superstar for the Kansas Jayhawks when he’s been on the court.

However, Peterson has missed a significant amount of time while dealing with a bizarre full-body cramping condition that first surfaced back in September.

“It was traumatic for me. So much, I tried to fight until it … I kind of couldn’t,” Peterson said of the condition. “Your mind is a joystick, my dad tells me. You can’t beat your mind.”

When he’s on the court, Peterson is perhaps the country’s most dynamic scorer. And the fourth-seeded Jayhawks could well make a lengthy tournament run if he remains available. But that’s a big if, and even so, they’re fighting an uphill battle in a loaded region that includes Duke, UConn and Michigan State.

4) Kingston Flemings – Houston

Kingston Flemings is yet another name in the absolutely loaded freshman class across the country.

Flemings, a five-star recruit out of San Antonio, has done a little bit of everything for Kelvin Sampson and the Houston Cougars. He averages 16.4 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Cougs, who are the No. 2 seed in the South Regional opposite top-seeded Florida.

Like Acuff, Flemings is an elite scorer on all three levels and is also comfortable creating for others. While he hasn’t been quite as dominant individually as the three players below him on this list, Houston is a far bigger threat to win it all, giving Flemings a good chance at claiming Most Outstanding Player honors.

3) Thomas Haugh – Florida

If the Florida Gators and head coach Todd Golden are going to back-to-back after winning it all a year ago, they’ll need strong play from junior forward Thomas Haugh, perhaps the team’s most versatile player.

The 6-foot-9 three-star recruit has slowly but surely improved each year for the Gators, growing into a leading role this season.

Haugh averages 17.1 points per game to go along with 6.2 rebounds and two assists. Additionally, his 6-11 wingspan makes him a defensive nightmare for opponents, who can step out and pick up guards or drop and defend the rim.

2) Yaxel Lendenborg – Michigan

Michigan’s Yaxel Lendenborg certainly talks a big game. But it’s hard to argue that he doesn’t back it up.

Lendeborg was the biggest name in the NCAA transfer portal and landed with the Wolverines after previous stops at Arizona Western Junior College and UAB.

All he’s done since arriving in Ann Arbor is dominate on both ends of the floor, averaging 14.4 points, seven rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game. Like Haugh, Lendeborg has the ability to operate in the paint on the offense or step out beyond the arc, where he’s shooting for a touch over 34 percent on the year.

For much of the year, Michigan looked like the team to beat across college basketball. The Wolverines have shown some cracks in their armor of late, including a Big Ten Tournament final loss to Purdue. Lendeborg also suffered a sprained ankle in that contest. But he says he’s good to go, and if so, it would come as no surprise to see Michigan win it all and Lendeborg claim MVP honors.

1) Cam Boozer – Duke

As we stated in the intro, the simple prediction for NCAA Tournament MVP is just taking the best player on the best team in the country.

Well, in this case, that is Duke’s Cam Boozer. The Blue Devils enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed after a 29-2 regular season and a perfect 3-0 run through the ACC Tournament.

Boozer, the No. 3 overall recruit in the 2025 class and the son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, has been nothing short of fantastic for the Blue Devils.

The freshman is averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game, all while shooting nearly 41 percent from beyond the arc. Boozer and sophomore guard Isaiah Evans have helped to form perhaps the nation’s top duo offensively, and if they continue to do so, he could well be the leader of the pack when it comes to NCAA Tournament MVP candidates.