Tag: Joe Lunardi

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.

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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.

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.

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Joe Lunardi speaks to ACC basketball coaches at spring meetings

Longtime bracket analyst Joe Lunardi reportedly talked to the ACC basketball coaches about how to improve their odds for at-large NCAA Tournament bids.

In the wake of snubs like an undefeated Florida State missing the College Football Playoff and Duke softball just earning the 10th seed in the NCAA Tournament, the ACC spring meetings had some ideas to earn more national favor.

During the conference’s spring meetings on Tuesday, longtime ESPN bracket analyst Joe Lunardi apparently spoke to the men’s basketball coaches for insight on how to earn more at-large bids. The Raleigh News & Observer’s Andrew Carter reported the meeting on social media.

Last year, the ACC earned four at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina, one of the four No. 1 seeds, maintained a steady grip as a top-five team all season, and 4-seed Duke and 6-seed Clemson both made the Elite Eight.

Outside of that, however, only conference tournament champion NC State made the first round. Virginia, who won the national title in 2019, earned a spot in the First Four play-in games.

Pittsburgh and Wake Forest both missed the tournament despite winning 22 and 21 games, respectively, and both sitting inside the top 35 in KenPom’s adjusted efficiency metric. They were the second- and third-highest teams left out.

Lunardi was apparently invited by the conference to speak with the coaches.

Wisconsin basketball appears in Joe Lunardi’s 2025 bracketology

Wisconsin basketball appears in Joe Lunardi’s 2025 Bracketology

Wisconsin men’s basketball program appeared in Joe Lunardi’s latest 2025 March Madness men’s field prediction on Thursday. 

Fresh off their round of 64 loss to No. 5 James Madison, Lunardi projected Wisconsin as one of the last four teams to make the tournament.

Wisconsin, alongside Saint Mary’s, Illinois and NC State, is forecast as an “on the bubble team” in the way-too-early estimates for 2025.

Over the past few weeks, UW’s program has experienced a complete shift in personnel. Thus far, the Badgers have landed Missouri transfer guard John Tonje, Central Arkansas guard Camren Hunter and Northern Illinois power forward Xavier Amos via the transfer portal.

With the departures of former Badgers Chucky Hepburn (portal), AJ Storr (portal) and Tyler Wahl (graduation), Greg Gard’s starting lineup will look much different in the fall. 

Wisconsin boasts four Final Four appearances, six Elite Eight bids and 10 Sweet 16 seasons in its storied history. The crew finished 22-14 a season ago, but will welcome three newcomers and freshman Daniel Freitag into the rotation next season.

Duke loses top overall seed in ESPN’s early 2025 Bracketology

Despite six top-50 players and two big-time transfers already committed, the Blue Devils lost the top spot in the 2025 bracket projection.

According to longtime ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi, the Duke Blue Devils are no longer the team to beat in 2025.

Lunardi released an updated way-too-early 2025 bracket projection, and Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks overtook Jon Scheyer as the top overall seed.

Duke will welcome Cooper Flagg, the top recruit in the country and the presumed No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, and five other top-50 freshmen in the 2024 recruiting class. The Blue Devils also got commitments from Maliq Brown of Syracuse and Mason Gillis of Purdue out of the transfer portal, and the team stood atop Lunardi’s initial 2025 projection.

Kansas, however, returned All-American center Hunter Dickinson after many expected the 2023-24 season to be his last. Self also wooed Alabama’s Rylan Griffen, Wisconsin’s AJ Storr, and Florida’s Riley Kugel, among others.

“All (the portal additions) have NCAA tournament experience and will certainly help the Jayhawks erase the injury-riddled conclusion to their 2023-24 campaign,” Lunardi wrote.

Duke remained a No. 1 seed in the projection, now slotting into the East region.

Duke takes top overall seed in Joe Lunardi’s early 2025 bracketology

With Cooper Flagg leading the top recruiting class in the country, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi thinks the 2025 NCAA Tournament runs through Duke.

The 2023-24 basketball season is still fresh in everyone’s memory, but it’s never too early to gaze toward the 2024-25 campaign.

ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi certainly agrees as he released an early look at the projected 2025 NCAA Tournament field on Tuesday, and he slotted Duke in as his top overall seed.

Fresh off a run to the Elite Eight last season and an ACC Tournament title two years ago, head coach Jon Scheyer welcomes No. 1 overall recruit Cooper Flagg, projected lottery pick Khaman Maluach, and two other five-star prospects in an esteemed freshman class.

Combine the new pedigree with Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster, two 2023-24 starters, already announcing their return, and it’s easy to see why so many experts think the team to beat next season plays in Durham.

The incredibly early bracket has Scheyer’s team atop the East region and playing the winner of Norfolk State and Central Connecticut from the First Four games.

Baylor, Connecticut, and Texas rounded out the top four seeds in Duke’s corner of the bracket. Kansas, Alabama, and Houston claimed the other three No. 1 seeds.

Will March Madness run through the Blue Devils next season? Duke fans will have to wait until the fall to get its first indications.

Where is Alabama in latest March Madness Bracketology?

Alabama remains a four seed in latest Bracketology!

Selection Sunday has arrived and although [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and the Alabama men’s basketball team are not competing for the SEC Tournament Championship in Nashville, Crimson Tide fans can rest easy knowing their squad is firmly in the NCAA Tournament field.

Late Saturday night, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi updated his famous bracketology, and Oats and the Tide are still on the No. 4 seed line, as the No. 15 overall seed.

Lunardi has Alabama in the West Region along with No. 1 seed North Carolina, No. 2 Arizona, and No. 3 Baylor.

Lunardi currently has eight SEC programs in the NCAA Tournament field, but it’s March and anything can happen.

Stay connected to Roll Tide Wire on Selection Sunday for more March Madness content!

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Texas A&M Basketball receives new NCAA Tournament first round matchup prediction

According to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Texas A&M is a predicted 10-seed to face the 7-seed Utah State Aggies in the first round

Texas A&M (20-13) has reignited what was once a lost season during the Aggies’ dismal five-game losing streak. The Aggies reeled off three wins in a row to end the regular season while adding two more significant victories this week during the SEC Tournament.

After defeating 2-seed Kentucky 97-87 on Friday night, the Aggies are back in the NCAA Tournament field, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. While defeating Florida in the SEC Tournament Semifinals on Saturday afternoon would further cement their seeding, last night’s victory over the Wildcats likely sealed their standing, listed as the second team in the “Last Four Byes” section of Lunardi’s bracket.

Looking ahead to Selection Sunday, a lot can still happen, but with A&M tentatively off the “Last Four In” line, Lunardi has now predicted the Aggies have a 10-seed facing the 7-seed Utah State Aggies, who last face each other in the NCAA Tournament back on March 19, 2010, resulting in a 69-53 Texas A&M win.

Due to the recent success of double-digit seeds making it through the tournament’s first two rounds, I doubt that this scrappy and physical squad wouldn’t thrive in the underdog role if given the chance.

7-seed Texas A&M will face 6-seed Florida on Saturday, March 16 at 2:30 CT. The game will air on ESPN. If the Aggies win, the potential to earn two more all-important Quad 1 victories is in reach, as A&M’s regular season win over the Gators would then elevate from a Quad 2 as they’ll likely move into the Top 30 in the NET rankings.

Lunardi drops Kentucky instead of Duke after Friday upset

The Blue Devils were at risk of dropping out of Joe Lunardi’s top three seeds, but an SEC team handed them a favor with a Friday loss.

Duke fans will have a nervous wait for Selection Sunday.

The Blue Devils are right on the edge of the line between a No. 3 and No. 4 seed after a quarterfinal loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament. ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi had Duke as the 12th overall seed after the upset, the lowest No. 3 seed in the field.

With the pressure mounting and a number of teams able to potentially jump Duke up to the 3-seed line, the Blue Devils got a favor from the Kentucky Wildcats.

Kentucky, another No. 3 seed in Lunardi’s projections, got bounced from the SEC Tournament in a 97-87 quarterfinal loss to unranked Texas A&M.

After the Wolfpack beat Virginia to move on to the ACC title game, the ESPN expert voted to keep Duke over Kentucky.

The Blue Devils remained the 12th overall seed while Kentucky fell down to 14th. Illinois made the jump past Duke into the 11th overall spot, now firmly in line for a No. 3 spot in the ESPN expert’s eyes.

Despite the break, however, the new 13th overall team is still a threat. Auburn plays Mississippi State in the SEC semifinals on Saturday, and a win could still kick Duke down a line.

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