NCAA Tournament bracketology: Gonzaga slated a No. 2 seed after WCC championship

The Zags' dominant showing against No. 16 Saint Mary's has them climbing the seed ladder with Selection Sunday approaching

After emphatically punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, the No. 9 Gonzaga Bulldogs have made their case as a potential 2-seed in the Big Dance.

On a historic night for the program, the Zags (28-5, 14-2 WCC) demolished No. 16 Saint Mary's, 77-51, in the WCC championship game. Drew Timme surpassed Frank Burgess as Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer before finishing with a game-high 18 points. The Zags never trailed en route to their fourth-straight WCC title.

With the win, Gonzaga improved to 6-4 in Quad 1 games and climbed three spots to No. 6 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool rankings. The Zags also rank No. 7 in KenPom while boasting the No. 1 adjusted offense and 74th-best adjusted defense.

As Selection Sunday approaches, Gonzaga is arguably peaking at the right time amid a nine-game winning streak. 

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm holds Gonzaga in high regard following the WCC Tournament. Palm lists the Zags as the 2-seed in the South Region, with Alabama claiming the region's top seed. Conversely to DeCourcy, Palm values Purdue as a No. 1 seed with UCLA joining the Zags on the 2-seed line.

The Bruins (27-4) are riding a 10-game winning streak into the Pac-12 Tournament. After knocking off Arizona at home on Saturday, Mike Cronin's team was ranked No. 2 in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll, which is the program's highest ranking since 2021. 

Mike DeCourcy's latest bracketology predictions released Wednesday have Mark Few's squad as a 3-seed in the West Region, with UCLA and Baylor claiming the region's top two seeds. The Zags would face 14-seeded Furman in the first round, which won the Southern Conference Conference Championship on Tuesday.

Joining the Zags on DeCourcy's 3-seed line are UConn, Kansas State and Marquette. 

In ESPN's NCAA Tournament Bracketology by Joe Lunardi, Gonzaga held its position on the 3-seed line in the West Region. Along with the Golden Eagles and Wildcats, Lunardi awarded the last 3-seed to Tennessee.

As for the Gaels, they sit on the 6-seed line according to all three mentioned bracketologies. Saint Mary's dropped two spots to No. 10 in the NET and No. 11 in KenPom's rankings.