Tag: Bracketology

Duke basketball back up to a No. 1 seed in newest ESPN Bracketology projections

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi released updated projections for the 2025 NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, moving the Blue Devils back to the top line.

After a brief drop, the Duke basketball team is a No. 1 seed again in ESPN’s Bracketology.

Joe Lunardi, the longtime college basketball bracket expert, released an updated round of preseason projections on Tuesday. The Blue Devils, whom he dropped to a No. 2 seed back in June, shifted back up to join Kansas, Houston, and Alabama on the top line.

The Blue Devils, now led by top-ranked freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and the best recruiting class in the country, initially held the top overall seed when Lunardi first released his 2025 projections in April. However, thanks to a strong transfer class, the Jayhawks unseated Jon Scheyer’s team on top.

After some brief doubts about how many first-year players Duke will rely on in 2024-25, it seems like the Cooper Flagg hype train has finally won out.

North Carolina, one of five other ACC schools included in the projected bracket, made it as a No. 2 seed in another region. The two-time defending national champions, the Connecticut Huskies, actually matched as the second team in Duke’s East region.

Where Florida basketball falls in ESPN’s July bracketology update

Basketball season is closer than people think. Here’s where Florida stands in ESPN’s latest offseason bracketology projections.

The back and forth for Florida’s men’s basketball team continues in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology predictions for ESPN.

The NCAA Tournament expert seems certain that Florida is set to field a strong team in 2024-25, but he can’t quite settle on a seed for the Gators.

After moving up to an 8-seed in the June update, [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag]’s Florida Gators are back down to the 9-seed to close out July.

Florida was a No. 6 seed in Lunardi’s way-too-early bracket, held on to that projection through the first update, dropped to a No. 7 seed in the mid-May update and fell again to a No. 9 seed before June.

In his latest update, published on July 30, Lunardi has Florida facing No. 8 Clemson in the South (San Francisco) Region.

A betting man wouldn’t put a nickel down on that matchup coming to fruition, but it’s clear what Florida’s expectations are in 2024-25, assuming a healthy summer and fall.

The Gators are a middle-of-the-pack NCAA Tournament team, which is better than the national impression of the program when Golden took over.

Where does the rest of the SEC stand?

The conference boasts 10 projected playoff teams, ties with the Big Ten for the most. The Big 12 is close to that mark with nine.

Alabama leads the way as the projected No. 1 seed in the East (Newark) Region, but Auburn is a threat to overtake its in-state rival as a No. 2 in the South (Atlanta) Region.

SEC-newcomer Texas should immediately establish itself as a conference power on the hardwood. Lunardi has the Longhorns as a No. 4 seed in the West (San Francisco) and the Tennessee Volunteers in the same seed for the Midwest (Indianapolis) Region.

Arkansas and Texas A&M are No. 5 seeds in the East and South, respectively, while Kentucky and Mississippi State are the No. 6 seeds in the Midwest and West. Ole Miss is the No. 9 seed in the East, rounding out the projected Field of 64 teams in the conference.

Lunardi also included Georgia in his First Four Out.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

CBS Sports seeds Gators hoops high in early bracketology

Jetty Palm is feeling very bullish early on about Florida basketball’s seeding in the Bing Dance next March.

There are still several months before the start of the 2024-25 college basketball campaign but that has not prevented the major bracketologists from casting their predictions for next March. However, things are looking good for the Florida Gators early on.

Among those is CBS Sports hoops expert Jerry Palm, who submitted his bracketology for next spring’s postseason action on Thursday. Palm included Todd Golden’s squad as a No. 5 seed in the South Region facing off with No. 12-seeded Yale Bulldogs in the opening round between the two schools.

The Orange and Blue are not the only team that represents the Southeastern Conference in Palm’s bracketology, with 10 other member schools also included.

Other SEC schools in bracketology

The Alabama Crimson Tide take the top seed in the South Region with the Auburn Tigers earning a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region to lead the conference. The Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 4 seed, West), Texas A&M Aggies (No. 4 seed, East) and Tennessee Volunteers (No. 5 seed, Midwest) join Florida among the top-seeded SEC schools.

The Ole Miss Rebels (No. 6, East), Texas Longhorns (No. 6, South), Kentucky Wildcats (No. 7, East) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 9, East) round out the schools firmly in the field. The Missouri Tigers (No. 11) are a First Four team in the Midwest.

Gators 2024-25 season opener

Florida will face the South Florida Bulls on Nov. 4 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville. The only officially announced game on Florida’s schedule is the Dec. 4 matchup with Virginia, which is part of the SEC-ACC Challenge.

Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Where does Joe Lunardi have Ohio State basketball in a way-too-early bracketolgy?

Do you like where Lundardi thinks Ohio State hoops will land in March? #GoBucks

Yeah, yeah, we know football season hasn’t even started yet and it’s only late June, but the hardest working bracketologist, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is always polishing up the crystal ball and looking ahead to project where college basketball teams will land in 2025’s NCAA Tournament.

And wouldn’t you know, he just recently updated his prognostications and has Ohio State in the field. It’s not a lofty seed mind you, but a seed nonetheless as the Buckeyes look to take some momentum from the end of last season into this one under new head coach Jake Diebler.

So where does Lunardi have the Scarlet and Gray? As of right now, he has them as a No. 8 seed in the East, facing No. 9 seed BYU. Getting an eight seed is never great in a game that’s two perceived teams that are almost equal, so let’s hope Ohio State surprises Lunardi and others with the new faces melding with the returning ones for the 2024-2025 season.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

Where does UNC basketball land in June Bracketology update?

Joe Lunardi believes the UNC basketball program is a top 16 national seed as of June.

The Summer months are here and we are still months away from the start of the college basketball season. But it’s never too early to keep an eye on projections for the next season.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has released his latest Bracketology following NBA decisions, the transfer portal, and other news in the sport.  And the good news for UNC fans is that Lunardi is still high on the Tar Heels at this point of the offseason.

Lunardi has the Tar Heels as one of the top 16 seeds overall in the NCAA Tournament for 2025. The latest update puts UNC as a No. 3 seed in the South Region matching up with No. 14 seed Charleston.

In that South Region, the No. 1 overall seed is projected to be Alabama, a team that eliminated UNC from the tournament a year ago. Iowa State checks in at No. 2 followed by Indiana at No. 4 in that bracket.

The three other No. 1 seeds are UConn, Kansas, and Houston.

Now, there is a long way to go until Selection Sunday in 2025 and a lot of things will change. But it’s still interesting to see what someone thinks of programs at this stage of the offseason.

Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Kentucky basketball is a six seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology update

Kentucky basketball moves up a spot to a six seed in latest Bracketology from Joe Lunardi.

A few weeks ago, Kentucky basketball was just getting its roster together, and ESPN’s Joe Lunardi placed them as a seven seed in his Bracketology report. Now, an update is out, and the Wildcats move up one spot for Lunardi, to a six seed.

Though these exercises are really just educated guesses for now, it gives fans an idea of how they’re perceived among analysts. Being a six seed means Lunardi sees them as a fringe top 25 team at the moment.

Related: Kentucky basketball 2024 roster tracker

As before, Lunardi has Kentucky playing USC in the opening round in the West Region. He has Houston as the top seed in the region, with Gonzaga as the number two. That region has a couple of other SEC teams in it as well, with the Florida Gators seeded eighth, and the Texas Longhorns as the four seed.

Kentucky is an unknown factor right now, as nobody knows how they’ll come together in year one. There is talent there, but every player and coach is new. Lunardi has them as a six seed for now, but if the team plays up to their talent level, they’ll wind up much higher.

Where Florida basketball falls in ESPN’s June bracketology update

ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi moved Florida up a seed in his latest NCAA Tournament projections, which are updated monthly.

ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi believes that [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] will assemble an NCAA Tournament-caliber roster at Florida for a second-straight season, but he can’t quite settle on a seed for the Gators as the offseason continues.

After starting off as a No. 6 seed in Lunardi’s way-too-early bracket and holding on to that projection through the first update, Florida dropped to a No. 7 seed in the mid-May update and again to a No. 9 seed heading into June.

In his latest update, published on June 18, Lunardi has Florida up to a No. 8 seed, playing No. 9 Wake Forest in the West (San Francisco) Region.

A betting man wouldn’t put a nickel down on that matchup coming to fruition, but it’s clear what Florida’s expectations are in 2024-25, assuming a healthy summer and fall.

The Gators are a middle-of-the-pack NCAA Tournament team, which is better than the national impression of the program when Golden took over for Mike White — Georgia is notably one of six SEC teams not projected by Lunardi to make the Big Dance.

Where does the rest of the SEC stand?

The conference boasts 10 projected playoff teams, beating out the Big 12 and Big 12 with nine apiece. Alabama leads the way as the projected No. 1 seed in the South (Atlanta) Region, but Auburn is a threat to overtake its in-state rival as a No. 2 in the Midwest (Indianapolis) Region.

SEC-newcomer Texas should immediately establish itself as a conference power on the hardwood. Lunardi has the Longhorns as a No. 4 seed in the West and the Tennessee Volunteers in the same spot in the East (Newark) Region.

Arkansas is a No. 5 seed (Midwest), while Kentucky, Mississippi State and Texas A&M occupy three of the four No. 6 seeds. Ole Miss is the No. 7 seed in the East, rounding out the projected Field of 64 teams in the conference.

Lunardi also included Missouri and Vanderbilt in his First Four Out. Expect them to be “on the bubble” for much of the regular season.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.

Duke drops down to a No. 2 seed in Lunardi’s early 2025 Bracketology

The Blue Devils started the offseason as a 2025 championship favorite, but transfer portal splashes bumped them down in Lunardi’s eyes.

Longtime ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi released an updated 2025 bracketology on Tuesday and he’s much lower on the Blue Devils than he was months ago.

When Lunardi released his first field projection for next year’s March Madness, the Blue Devils took the top overall spot in the field. In the two months since, however, other teams like Kansas and Alabama made some splashes in the transfer portal to boot Jon Scheyer’s team down a peg.

Not only has Duke lost the top overall spot, the Blue Devils are now down to the No. 2 seed in the East region.

The Jayhawks, the Crimson Tide, Houston, and two-time defending national champion Connecticut took the four top lines in Lunardi’s new projections.

With the Pac-12 gone from the top conferences, the remaining Power 4 conferences will get an alarming number of teams in the tournament next season. Lunardi had seven ACC teams (and 10 SEC schools!) in his early bracket.

North Carolina (No. 3 seed), Miami (No. 8), Wake Forest (No. 9), Clemson (No. 10), Louisville (First Four), and Pittsburgh (First Four) also made the bracket from the conference.

Kentucky basketball is a seven-seed in early Bracketology by Joe Lunardi

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Kentucky basketball as a seven-seed in early Bracketology.

Early top 25 lists have had trouble ranking Kentucky basketball, with 247sports putting them in the top 15, while CBS had them outside the top 25 completely. Now, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has released a very early Bracketology prediction that has the Wildcats as a seven-seed.

Obviously, like any preseason rankings, it’s to be taken with a grain of salt, but it’s interesting to see how teams are viewed. Right now, Lunardi puts Kentucky in the West Region versus the USC Trojans in round one.

Related: Kentucky has a tough non-conference schedule so far

Also in the West bracket is the Duke Blue Devils as the top seed, and Gonzaga as the second seed. As for SEC teams, the Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies reside in the West too.

Once the season begins, fans and analysts alike will get a glimpse of what Kentucky is capable of. Fans will be hoping to see the Cats climb much higher in Lunardi’s ranking as the season goes along.

Where Florida basketball falls in Lunardi’s May bracketology update

It might be way too early to start talking March Madness projections, but Florida took a dip in the latest ESPN bracketology update.

Look, we get it, the last thing most college sports fans are thinking about is basketball right now. The NBA Finals are upon us, football season is almost here and the real ones are neck-deep in baseball for the summer.

But ESPN bracketology expert Joe Lunardi makes an excellent point when he claims that “there is no longer an off-season in college basketball.” Monthly updates are required with the sport’s constant movement over the so-called offseason.

As the month of May draws to a close, Florida is trending down on Lunardi’s 2025 NCAA Tournament projections. He views the Gators as a No. 9 seed right now, a step back from the No. 7 seed Florida secured in 2024.

Florida is losing a good amount of talent. Replacing a First Team All-SEC talent in Zyon Pullin won’t be easy, and finding a big man to fill Tyrese Samuel’s shoes will be hard, too.

Still, the Gators have already brought in a solid transfer portal haul and  [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] both announced their return within the past month. It’s a bit of a headscratcher to see Lunardi drop the Gators following those returns, but every team is spending the summer trying to upgrade the roster.

Clayton has a first-round ceiling and could help Florida climb up Lunardi’s projections with a strong summer. The season doesn’t begin until November, but the team does work out together in the fall.

Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.