Gonzaga earns ideal draw in latest Joe Lunardi Bracketology projections

The 10-1 Zags have not been a top two seed in four years

Gonzaga Bulldogs Braeden Smith (left), Graham Ike (middle) and Braden Huff (right). | Photo by Myk Crawford

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs have been nearly perfect through the non-conference portion of the college basketball season, accumulating a 10-1 record with four wins over ranked opponents.

With just two games remaining until WCC play gets underway in late December, Gonzaga is comfortably in position to earn its highest seed in the NCAA Tournament since 2023, when it went to the Elite Eight as a No. 3 seed.

In fact, the latest updated Bracketology report from ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Gonzaga sitting on the No. 2 seed line in the Midwest Region, which would put the Zags in Portland, OR, for their first two games. In this bracket, Gonzaga lines up against No. 15 seed St. Thomas, the projected automatic qualifier out of the Summit League.

St. Thomas is 9-4 on the year with plenty of familiarity against the WCC, having lost the season opener to Saint Mary's, 84-58, and falling at Washington State a week later before picking up a win at Portland on Nov. 23.

Should Gonzaga avoid a colossal upset, they would square off against the winner of an intriguing 7-10 matchup between No. 7 USC and No. 10 LSU, two power conference programs that have not been to the big dance in the past three years but are each off to strong starts in the 2025-26 campaign.

Gonzaga is a step behind the four No. 1 seeds - Michigan, Arizona, Duke, and Iowa State- who are all still undefeated this season. Joining Gonzaga on the 2-seed line is Purdue, BYU, and UConn, while Alabama, Michigan State, Louisville, and surprise team Vanderbilt make up the No. 3 seeds.

The Zags are not the only WCC team projected to begin NCAA Tournament play in Portland. The Gaels are projected as a No. 7 seed in the South Region, where they would take on No. 10 seed UCLA in Portland, with a potential second-round date against No. 2 seed BYU in what would be a matchup of former WCC rivals.

Dec 13, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs head coach Mark Few during the second half against the UCLA Bruins at Climate Pledge Arena. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Michigan (1 seed), Alabama (3), Saint Mary's (7) and UCLA (10) are joined by one other Zag opponent in Lunardi's projected field: Bobby Hurley's Arizona State Sun Devils, who are now projected as a play-in team after a 9-2 start to the season that includes wins over Texas, Oklahoma, Santa Clara, Hawaii, and Washington State.

Gonzaga handed Arizona State one of its two losses - the other being USC - back on Nov. 8 in Tempe in a hard-fought true road battle for coach Few's team.

Gonzaga will look to bolster their resume even more this week with matchups against Campbell on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at the Kennel and again on Sunday, Dec. 21, at Moda Center against Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks.