Gonzaga Bulldogs tick up one seed line in one expert’s bracket

Originally posted on Gonzaga Bulldogs on SI
By Bernie Wilson | Last updated Mar 5, 2025 7:27 PM ET

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are projected as the No. 9 seed in the Midwest by both Jerry Palm of CBS Sports and Joe Lunardi of ESPN in the latest Bracketology posts released Tuesday.

Palm moved the Zags up one spot and switched them from the East to the Midwest following their 95-75 win against San Francisco at the Chase Center on Saturday night. It was Gonzaga’s second Quad 1 win in five nights in the Bay Area and clinched the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference tournament. It followed a 95-76 win at Santa Clara on Tuesday night.

Lunardi kept the Zags as the No. 9 seed in the Midwest.

Palm had Gonzaga (23-8, 14-4) on the bubble after their disheartening home loss to Saint Mary’s on Feb. 22, which gave the Gaels the WCC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament.

But the Bulldogs feel much more confident about their March Madness chances after their dominating performances against the teams that finished third and fourth in the West Coast Conference.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s drew quadruple byes into the semifinals next Monday night.

“I think we’ve been playing pretty good ball for a little while now, especially on the defensive side,” point guard Ryan Nembhard said after tying Blake Stepp’s single-game school record with 16 assists in the win against the Dons. “This is the time you want to be playing your best ball and I think that’s what we’re doing.”

Gonzaga is looking for its 26th straight bid to the NCAA Tournament. It is the only program that’s reached the last nine Sweet 16s.

NET Rankings

The Zags remain No. 8 in the NCAA NET Rankings and improved to 3-6 in Quad 1 games.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses the NET Rankings as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness.

KenPom Ratings

Gonzaga is up to No. 8 in the KenPom.com Ratings, a predictive ranking system that uses advanced metrics to assess quality and efficiency.

BPI Rankings

Gonzaga is No. 10 in the College Basketball Power Index (BPI), which is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is.