Bracketology 2023: Duke, Penn State, Marquette and Utah State among biggest winners

Gonzaga Bulldogs

The Bracketology was against Gonzaga over a week ago, losing the unique tiebreaker scenario to Saint Mary’s due to having a lower NET ranking, which at the time was around 10 to 8. That gave the Bulldogs the 2 seed in the WCC Tournament but it ultimately didn’t matter, as the conference gave both teams a double-bye to the semifinals.

Gonzaga had a potential 3rd game against San Francisco but survived the shooting of Khalil Shabazz to pull off the 84-73 win to set up a 3rd matchup with the Gaels. It went like the one in Spokane, as the Bulldogs dominated from start to finish, leading by nearly 40 points at one time in the second half.

The final score was 77-51, led by 18 points from Drew Timme. It’s another Quad 1 victory and metric boost for Gonzaga, now with a NET ranking around 6 and a combined 11-4 record vs Quad 1/2 opponents. The home loss to LMU still stings compared to previous years where they got a 1 seed and both UCLA and Arizona have played at a high level.

Still, this puts the Bulldogs in a good spot to get no less than a 3 seed and could potentially end up in the West Region. They did all they could this past week but at bare minimum, showed that they’re a team to be reckoned with, regardless of region.