Gonzaga faces Braeden Smith's former school in Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs saw their streak of making the Sweet 16 end last year after nine seasons, thanks to a matchup against No. 1 seed Houston in the Round of 32.

The team is hoping to do enough in the regular season to avoid that kind of nightmare seeding situation in 2026, and so far the early results are quite positive.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN's resident bracketologist, recently updated his projections for the 2026 NCAA Tournament which has Gonzaga earning a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region and beginning the Big Dance in Portland. The Zags are projected to square off against No. 15 seed Colgate, the automatic qualifier out of the Patriot League.

Colgate is where Braeden Smith began his collegiate career, playing two seasons with the Raiders and earning conference Player of the Year honors in 2023-24 before transferring to Gonzaga and redshirting last year. He is now an integral part of the team's bench mob, averaging 3.7 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 17.1 minutes per game.

The rest of Gonzaga's pod includes No. 7 seed Nebraska vs. No. 10 seed NC State. NC State is led by WIll Wade, who was the coach at McNeese when the Zags played them in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament in a 5-12 matchup. Gonzaga won that game 86-65 and beat Kansas in the Round of 32 before falling to Purdue in the Sweet 16.

Should Gonzaga advance out of this (projected) pod, it would set up potential battles with multiple other teams from the Players Era Festival. The No. 1, 3, 4, and 5 seeds in the midwest region, Michigan, Alabama, Kansas, and Tennessee, respectively, all participated in the Las Vegas based MTE. Gonzaga of course played Alabama in their first game and won by ten, before defeating Maryland and then getting crushed by Michigan in the championship game by a stunning 40 point margin.

Alabama and Michigan are two of five total teams Gonzaga either has played or will play this season who are in the field of 68. Joining them from the WCC is Saint Mary's, who is projected to also begin March Madness in Portland, but as a No. 7 seed in the South Region where they draw No. 10 seed Ohio State and a potential second round matchup against former WCC rival BYU, the No. 2 seed.

UCLA (8 seed) and Kentucky (9 seed) are projected to face each other in the opening round in St. Louis, with the winner drawing a matchup against new No. 1 seed Iowa State. The Cyclones are undefeated on the year and recently crushed Purdue on their home floor, which vaulted them into top seed territory.

Oklahoma - who Gonzaga beat in the first week of the season - and Santa Clara are both among the next four teams out of the field, alongside Wake Forest and Colorado. Both could find their way back into the at-large conversation, although the path for the Broncos is much trickier with only one non-conference matchup against a KenPom top 100 team remaining; this Saturday against Arizona State.

Michigan and Iowa State are joined on the No. 1 seed line by Duke and Arizona, while the No. 2 seeds include Gonzaga, BYU, Purdue, and UConn.

Gonzaga will look to push themselves into the No. 1 seed conversation by getting a win on Saturday, Dec. 13 in Seattle against UCLA. Tip-off is slated for 8:30 PM PT and the game will be on ESPN.