Bracketology 2019: Way-too-early look at a potential NCAA Tournament bracket

West Region

(1) Gonzaga vs. (16) Bethune-Cookman

(8) Purdue vs. (9) Loyola-Chicago

(4) Oregon vs. (13) South Dakota State

(5) Florida State vs. (12) Marshall

(6) LSU vs. (11) Miami/Wichita State

(3) Nevada vs. (14) Pennsylvania

(7) Clemson vs. (10) Xavier

(2) Kentucky vs. (15) Vermont.

There aren’t many teams returning as much talent as Gonzaga will be for 2018-19. Mark Few’s squad will add a year of experience and has a legit chance at going undefeated in WCC play in a down year for St. Mary’s. The Bulldogs should run through their conference schedule and could enter the NCAA Tournament, if all things go according to plan, with one a couple of losses. If this happens, it will be hard to keep them off the top line.

I might be overrating each of the next three teams (in terms of seed) in this region. The success of Kentucky and Oregon is largely riding on the play of their recruiting classes. They will both be exceptionally young next season, something at least Coach Cal is used to, and that can be difficult to overcome early in the season. A few slip-ups in November or December could cause these teams to slide further than the seeds I currently have them placed at.

As for Nevada, their affiliation with the Mountain West makes it hard to rise up to a No. 3 seed. As we have seen with Gonzaga from the WCC in the past, just a few losses in a non-major conference can cause a team to tumble in a hurry. Yet, the Wolf Pack should return the majority of the roster from the Elite Eight team this past season.

There are two at-large teams in this region who did not participate in the 2018 NCAA Tournament: Oregon and LSU. Both squads bring in top-5 recruiting classes for this season and should have enough firepower to go dancing. The Ducks and Tigers will be extremely young but the talent is definitely there.