2025 NCAA Tournament bracketology: Gonzaga projected to earn top seeds in Seattle region

The Athletic's Bracket Watch had the Bulldogs on the 1-seed line in its preseason prediction model

Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

The Gonzaga men’s basketball team could be in for more than just one trip to Climate Pledge Arena this season.

The No. 6 Bulldogs are slated to take on No. 23 Kentucky in the Battle in Seattle event on Dec. 7 at Climate Pledge Arena, in one of the many high-profile matchups on the 2024-25 calendar. Gonzaga will see at least three other top-25 teams in nonleague play, with the potential to face up to two more depending on how the Battle 4 Atlantis plays out. It’s certainly not the first gantlet Few and company have faced before, though it has a chance of being the most difficult they’ve ever assembled.

Should the Bulldogs capitalize on most of their opportunities in November and December play, they could return to Seattle in late March for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The latest update from ESPN Bracketology had Gonzaga on the 2-seed paired with 15-seed Weber State out of the Big Sky in a hypothetical first-round matchup in the Seattle region. Florida, led by former San Francisco head coach Todd Golden, and Maryland out of the ACC were on the other side of the bracket group in the 7 vs. 10 game.

The Athletic’s “Bracket Watch” had the Bulldogs on the 1-seed line in the West Region, which would almost certainly guarantee them another trip to the west side of the state for the first weekend of March Madness. CBS Sports projects Gonzaga will fall on the 2-seed line, while still playing in Seattle for the first round, although in the East Region instead of the West.

Outside of the Zags, the Saint Mary’s Gaels are the only other West Coast Conference team that’s on bracketologists’ radar heading into the season. The Athletic projects Saint Mary’s will get into the field somewhat comfortably as a 9-seed, while CBS Sports and ESPN have Randy Bennett and company just sneaking in as a “Last 4 In” team on the bubble. 

The Gaels received five votes in the AP preseason poll and checked in at No. 34 in KenPom.com’s preseason rankings.

A record-low number of mid-majors are projected to earn at-large bids based on bracketologists’ early forecasts. ESPN and The Athletic’s respective models had just two mid-majors (Saint Mary’s and VCU) snagging at-large bids, which would be an all-time low since the field expanded to 68 teams in 2011. Things will change throughout the course of the season and preseason projections are deemed meaningless to some, though the bracketology predictions indicate how the last wave of conference realignment could potentially impact the seeding process for the NCAA Tournament moving forward. As power conferences add more schools, they create more opportunities to schedule high-profile games against newer and talented teams (Arizona in the Big 12 with Kansas, Houston and Baylor, for example). 

Reigning back-to-back national champion UConn lost four of its five starters from last season, though Dan Hurley and the Huskies figure to compete for a top seed once again. UConn was projected to earn a No. 1 seed in The Athletic’s and CBS Sports’ models, while coming in on the 2-seed line on ESPN. The Bulldogs take on the Huskies at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 14.

Kentucky was on the 7-seed line on CBS Sports’ and ESPN’s models. The Athletic had the Wildcats on the 6-seed line in its projections. UCLA was as high as a 4-seed on CBS Sports. The Bruins take on the Zags in Inglewood, California, on Dec. 28.

Two potential Battle 4 Atlantis foes, Indiana and Arizona, were featured across the board of bracketology updates as well. The Wildcats were a 3-seed on ESPN and The Athletic, while the Hoosiers were a 5-seed on The Athletic.