2025 NCAA Tournament Bracketology: Gonzaga, Saint Mary's represent West Coast Conference

The Bulldogs sit on the 5-seed line in ESPN's latest forecast of the 2025 NCAA Tournament

Gonzaga men's basketball team. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The next three weeks could indicate a lot about whether the West Coast Conference will send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament this season.

The league's biggest postseason regular, Gonzaga, has an opportunity to build off its existing postseason resume during a pivotal stretch of league play that's coming up. The Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 WCC), ranked No. 10 in the NET Rankings, are set to play two Quad 1 games and two Quad 2 games over their next five contests, starting with Thursday's game at Oregon State.

The Zags established a postseason case right out of the gate in nonleague play, as they picked up a pair of Quad 1 wins over Baylor and San Diego State before Thanksgiving. Since then, though, they've lost close games away from home to West Virginia, Kentucky, UConn and UCLA, dropping their Quad 1 record to 2-4 heading into the matchup with the Beavers, who rank in the top 60 of the NET. As long as Oregon State stays within the top 75, that game will count as another Quad 1 contest for both teams.

Those four losses in December might've knocked Gonzaga out of the conversation for a No. 1 seed at the moment, though Mark Few and company are still in the hunt for a single-digit seed heading into the thick of league play. The latest ESPN Bracketology from Joe Lunardi had the Bulldogs on the 5-seed line in the South Region. According to Lunardi's projections, a 5 seed would still be enough to grant the Zags a trip to Seattle for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

While the Bulldogs strive for a top seed in the tournament, the WCC's other unbeaten team, Saint Mary's (15-3, 5-0 WCC), can establish a clear-cut postseason resume if it can take advantage of the slew of high-quality opponents on its upcoming docket. The Gaels, who sit at No. 32 in the NET, have four Quad 1 games from Jan. 25 to Feb. 8 and a Quad 2 game at San Francisco during that stretch on Feb. 6.

Before that game against the Dons, though, Saint Mary's will host Gonzaga on Feb. 1 in Moraga, California, in a showdown between the WCC's top two teams. The Bulldogs and Gaels meet for a second time in Spokane on Feb. 22.

The Gaels have taken care of business (11-0 record in Quad 3 and Quad 4 games) and also boast a 2-0 record in Quad 1 games. Perhaps a few more high-quality wins will get Randy Bennett and company off the bubble and into the field — Saint Mary's sits on the 10-seed line as one of the last four teams to get a bye, according to ESPN Bracketology.

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