Gonzaga improves NCAA Tournament seed with win over USF Dons in WCC semifinals (photo gallery)
LAS VEGAS - The Gonzaga men's basketball team will make its 30th appearance in the West Coast Conference Tournament championship game after beating the San Francisco Dons 89-77 in Monday's late semifinal at Orleans Arena.
The Zags will face Saint Mary's in the title game on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Gaels beat Santa Clara 79-65 in the other semifinal earlier Monday.
Gonzaga entered the game ranked No. 16 in the NET Rankings and slotted to be a No. 7 seed in most 2024 NCAA Tournament projections. The victory over the Dons moved the Zags up to a No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest ESPN Bracketology update.
Lunardi predicts No. 6 Gonzaga will face No. 11 Mississippi State in the first round in Omaha, Nebraska. No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 14 Toledo is the other projected first-round matchup opposite Gonzaga in the Omaha pod. A second-round matchup of Gonzaga vs. Baylor is intriguing on several fronts. It would be a rematch of a closed-door preseason scrimmage from October that Gonzaga won, 81-78.
If Gonzaga beats Saint Mary's in the WCC Tournament championship game, it's possible the Zags could jump as high as a No. 5 seed. A victory over the Gaels would move the Zags into the top 15 in the NET Rankings and give them their fourth Quad 1 victory of the season.
Would the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee place Gonzaga in the Spokane pod if the Zags win the WCC Tournament title? We will find out soon enough.
(All photos by Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports)
