Bracketology 2019: Final preseason projected NCAA Tournament field

West Region

(1) Gonzaga vs. (16) Lehigh/Radford

(8) Texas Tech vs. (9) Alabama

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

(5) Virginia Tech vs. (12) Buffalo

(6) TCU vs. (11) Davidson

(3) Auburn vs. (14) UC-Irvine

(7) Butler vs. (10) Houston

(2) Duke vs. (15) Wright State

Possibly the most talented team in the country, Gonzaga boasts a ton of versatility and poise in its starting lineup. Quite simply, there are two or three players on the roster who may land on All-America teams at the end of the year. Obviously, the team suffered a substantial blow with the loss of Killian Tillie for the next eight weeks due to injury but they should still be one of the top teams in the nation. Gonzaga is testing itself tremendously in the non-conference schedule this year and that may pay dividends in March.

Duke, on the other hand, features a brand-new starting lineup in comparison to last year. And while it may take some time for the roster to gel, you would be hard-pressed to find a more talented team. RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones are all elite freshmen who can take over any game at any time.

Butler is a team that has flown under-the-radar throughout most of the offseason. Even though Tyler Wideman and Kelan Martin graduated this offseason, the Dawgs still return star guard Kamar Baldwin as well as a ton of major contributors from last year. If incoming Duke transfer Jordan Tucker excels from Day 1 (which will be in December for him due to being a midseason transfer), Butler could outplay this projection.

I would also watch out for Davidson, who will be led by superstar guard Kellen Grady. They are a dangerous team when they get going from deep.