Gonzaga drops in latest ESPN Bracketology following loss to Portland

Gonzaga lost to Portland for the first time in 12 years on Wednesday

Gonzaga men's basketball assistant coaches. | Photo by Myk Crawford

The college basketball world was shocked on Wednesday evening when Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs were handed a completely unexpected 87-80 loss at the hands of the Portland Pilots.

It goes down as a Quad 3 loss for the Zags, who had won 20 straight games over the Pilots and 15 straight in the 2025-26 season.

Unsurprisingly, the loss hurt Gonzaga's projected standing in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. ESPN's resident bracketologist Joe Lunardi recently bumped the Zags up to a No. 2 seed amidst the 15-game win streak, but bumped them back down to a No. 3 seed in his latest projection on Friday.

Lunardi has Gonzaga as the No. 3 seed in the West region, where they would open up the tournament in Portland, OR, against Portland State, the projected winner of the Big Sky Conference.

The Vikings are 15-6 overall and 9-1 in league play. They faced San Francisco on the road back in mid-November and lost, 80-70, in their lone game against a Zag opponent.

Should Gonzaga advance to the Round of 32, they would face the winner between No. 6 Clemson and No. 11 Miami, OH. The Tigers are 19-4 overall and 9-1 in the ACC, with their only losses coming to Georgetown, Alabama, BYU, and NC State in overtime. Meanwhile, Miami OH is one of two teams, alongside Arizona, that are undefeated this season - although they have played one of the weakest schedules in all of college basketball.

Jan 31, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Nebraska has jumped Gonzaga as the projected No. 2 seed, while the aforementioned Arizona remains the No. 1 seed in the West region - setting up a potential Elite Eight matchup between longtime friends and colleagues Mark Few and Tommy Lloyd.

WCC fans who are worried about Gonzaga's departure to the Pac-12 will be happy to see both Saint Mary's (10 seed) and Santa Clara (11 seed) in the field of 68. Santa Clara is now the projected winner of the league's autobid - thanks to being in first place - while the Gaels are now firmly on the bubble, listed by Lunardi among the 'last four byes' alongside Georgia, UCLA, and USC.

The Gaels lack a quad 1 win, which is hurting their thin resume, while the Broncos have a disastrous quad 4 loss to Loyola Chicago, which will make an at-large bid a tricky endeavor - even with quality metrics overall.

Gonzaga has played six teams that are projected to make the NCAA Tournament: Michigan (1 seed), Alabama (5), Kentucky (7), UCLA (10), Saint Mary's (10), and Santa Clara (11).

The Zags will look to get back into the win column on Saturday afternoon, taking on the Oregon State Beavers at 3:00 PM PT at Gill Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.