BYU Basketball Could Face Familiar Foe in NCAA Tournament According to Latest Lunardi Projection

On Friday, ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi updated his NCAA Tournament projections. BYU, coming off a win over no. 11 Baylor, held steady as a six-seed. In Lunardi's projection, BYU would have the chance to play a former conference foe: Gonzaga. BYU would play the winner of Seton Hall/Gonzaga in the first round in Pittsburgh. The winner of BYU-Gonzaga/Seton Hall would take on the winner of Creighton-Charleston for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16.

Saturday afternoon's contest against Kansas State is a critical game for Mark Pope and this BYU basketball program. With a win, BYU would add another quality win to the resume and have the opportunity to start improving its seed in the NCAA tournament. With a loss, BYU would be in danger of a two-game losing streak with a game at Kansas on deck.

BYU in the Polls

On Monday, the new AP poll for college basketball was released and BYU stayed in the top 25 for the 13th consecutive week. The Cougars, who were coming off a disappointing loss to last-place Oklahoma State, dropped six spots from no. 19 to no. 25. BYU bounced back with a critical win over no. 11 Baylor on Tuesday night. BYU travels to Kansas to take on Kansas State on Saturday.

BYU is one of six Big 12 teams in the AP top 25. They are joined by Houston (2), Iowa State (6), Kansas (9), Baylor (11), and Texas Tech (23). Now that Iowa State is in the top 10, BYU has a win over a top 10 team. BYU beat Iowa State convincingly last month.

Below is the full AP top 25.

UConn
Houston
Purdue
Arizona
Tennessee
Iowa State
Marquette
Duke
Kansas
North Carolina
Baylor
Illinois
Alabama
Auburn
Creighton
Dayton
Kentucky
Saint Mary's
San Diego State
South Carolina
Washington State
Colorado State
Texas Tech
Florida
BYU

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