UCLA and Gonzaga. UCLA and Gonzaga. And UCLA and Gonzaga.
For all of the roundups I have done trying to figure out which eight teams will be assigned to Sacramento and the Golden 1 Center for the First and Second Rounds of the NCAA Men’s Tournament next week (next week!!!), I have insisted that UCLA and Gonzaga will be the two top teams assigned to the four-team brackets.
UCLA has been a lock since November, and really since last year, when they lost to eventual runner-up North Carolina in the Sweet 16. They were the best (men’s) team in California from the get-go, and only some crazy fluke would have prevented them from getting assigned to the only NCAA Tournament in-state site. That crazy fluke has not happened. In fact, some are now considering them good enough to be the one-seed in the West (and that happened, shockingly, when Purdue proved yet again they couldn’t handle being great for approximately the 18-thousandth time in their history. Hey, they’re John Wooden’s alma mater and they let him get away. They deserve to be usurped by UCLA every time).
Throughout these roundups, I have also insisted that Gonzaga would be the other team assigned to Sacramento. The Bulldogs had a few stumbles this season (losing to the second-best (men’s) team in California, the Saint Mary’s Gaels, among others), but have certainly righted the ship as of late and will be no lower than a three-seed. This to me means they should be placed reasonably close to home in the bracket, and Sacramento is the closest place for them to be.
(Psst… I keep using the qualifier best men’s team because the Stanford women’s basketball team is easily the top college hoops team in the state of California, and has been all year. They are going to be a one-seed and will host First and Second Round games at Maples Pavilion, that’s the other Locky McLockerson Lock of the Year.)
Yet the pundits have mostly insisted that Arizona will be the other top team assigned to Sacramento. Denver is also hosting tournament games, and most of the Bracketologists have insisted that the Big 12 will take over Denver, therefore forcing Gonzaga to be assigned to any one of the other first-and-second round sites but mostly Greensboro, Orlando, and even Albany.
But as I thoroughly went over last week, Denver is actually closer to Tucson than it is to Spokane, and it makes more sense for a Texas-based team to be assigned to Greensboro or Orlando than Gonzaga if you’re really concerned about trying to get alumni and students to show up to the games. The short version is that Baylor, the mostly-assumed second team in Denver, is about 1,100 miles/14 hours drive time from Greensboro and Orlando. Whereas Arizona is about 900 miles from Denver, and Gonzaga is 800 miles from Sacramento (and 1,100 from Denver, if you’re making that argument).
Besides, this is another example of how the smaller team gets screwed. Not one of these pundits are suggesting that Gonzaga get the Sacramento slot, there are two Big 12 teams in Denver and therefore Arizona gets punted to Greensboro, Orlando or Albany.
And why is that? Why does Gonzaga not get the benefit of the closer location and Arizona does?
You know why. You know exactly why. Because that would be “unfair” to a Power 5 team. Yet Gonzaga’s success over the past 20-plus years is better than Arizona’s. Mark Few has been head coach at Gonzaga since the 1999-’00 season. The only time they haven’t made the Tournament since then…. was the year there wasn’t a Tournament, so nobody got to go. Meanwhile, in that same time period, Arizona has missed four times and is on their fifth coach. Since Arizona last made the Elite 8 in 2015, Gonzaga has two Elite 8’s and two Title Game appearances.
If any top west coast team has “earned” a home region selection, it’s Gonzaga over Arizona (and if we’re being honest, both of them over UCLA based on recent history, but that’s not how it works). Yet the Zags keep getting the short end of the stick. We’ll see how it all shakes out, but I still insist it’ll be UCLA and Gonzaga with Arizona sent to Denver, and I’ll post the actual brackets along with everybody’s final mock so we can see who got the closest.
As for the other teams making the trip to Sacramento… I figure we’ll get at least three other lower-ranked “Power 5” teams sent out here. Couple of Big 10 teams and an ACC. Maybe an SEC, but I figure all the Big 12 teams will stay further east (as, ahem, they should be). I actually prefer getting the mid-majors because their fans are small in number, but big and loud and eager to tell you just how much stupid money they spent to get to this game (which they will almost always lose). It makes me appreciate the Tournament that much more, because now that directional school is more than just Power 5 fodder, it has names and faces and proud alumni.
And now, the brackets, as of the morning of March 10th…
West: (1) UCLA vs. (16) Grambling State and (8) Maryland vs. (9) Memphis
Midwest: (2) Arizona vs. (15) UNC-Asheville and (7) Northwestern vs. (10) Providence
Well, Maryland still feels like an ACC school so that counts. He has two Texas schools in Denver (Texas and Baylor) with Gonzaga weirdly in Columbus. It is a basic fact that Joey Brackets is good at seeding and terrible at geography. His placements are just a mess right now.
West: (2) UCLA vs. (15) Vermont and (7) Kentucky vs. (10) Providence
Midwest: (2) Gonzaga vs. (15) UNC-Asheville and (7) Iowa State vs. (10) Penn State
And Jerry is the opposite, mostly. Pretty good at location but terrible at seeding. (He has Arizona in Denver as a 3). Insisting Purdue is a one-seed and better than UCLA is… not accurate. Arizona is also not worse than Marquette (his other 2-seed next to Texas). His seeding is a mess. This is so not happening.
West: (2) UCLA vs. (15) Montana State and (7) Michigan State vs. (10) Auburn
Midwest: (2) Arizona vs. (15) UNC-Asheville and (7) Northwestern vs. (10) Mississippi State
Well that’s three-for-three on UNC-Asheville being a 15-seed assigned to Sacramento so far, which is interesting. This is a lot closer to Joey Bracket’s prediction than it isn’t, with Northwestern also heading out here. And he’s got Gonzaga as a 2-seed in Denver… why not just flip Arizona and the Zags? He’s ignoring the geography too, but I’m really not surprised at this point. (With Texas as the other 2-seed and in Denver, he has the four two-seeds in the two westernmost locations, an interesting quirk.)
Bracketville (Bracketguy Dave)
West: (2) UCLA vs. (15) Montana State and (7) Missouri vs. (10) Rutgers
Midwest: (2) Arizona vs. (15) UNC-Asheville and (7) Penn State vs. (10) Texas A&M
Wow, four brackets and four votes for UNC-Asheville. I have a funny Montana story I’ll tell if they actually make it to Sacramento. He has Gonzaga as a 3-seed in Des Moines, curiously, with Baylor as a 2 in Denver and K-State as a 3 in Greensboro, which… is geographically still wrong, but we’ll get to that momentarily.
Delphibracketology (group effort)
West: (2) UCLA vs. (15) UNC-Asheville and (7) Northwestern vs. (10) Boise State
Midwest: (2) Arizona vs. (15) Montana State and (7) FAU vs. (10) NC State
Once again, kudos to the high school club from small-town Indiana for doing a weekly bracket and being just as good as the big names who do this for a living. They have the Montana State/UNC-Asheville matchup flipped, and that’s now three votes for Northwestern as a 7-seed. They put Gonzaga in Orlando as a 3-seed, with Baylor in Des Moines as a 2, and Kansas State as a 3 and the other Denver team. In addition to what I’ve noted about Baylor’s proximity to Orlando compared to everyone else, K-State makes more sense in Des Moines (along with 1-seed Kansas). But again, big props to the kids for being just as good at this as Joey Brackets.
West: (2) UCLA vs. (15) Montana State and (7) Iowa vs. (10) Boise State
Midwest: (2) Arizona vs. (15) UNC-Asheville and (7) Michigan State vs. (10) Mississippi State
UNC-Asheville is a perfect 6 for 6!!! Whatever methodology these pundits use, the Bulldogs, the auto-qualifier from the Big South, have not only punched their ticket to the dance, but as far as all these Bracketologists are concerned they’ve also punched their ticket to Sacramento. Considering UNC-Asheville is the furthest west team in the Big South, it stands to reason that if this comes to pass this will probably be everybody’s first trip to Sacramento. So a very tentative “Welcome to California” to them. I look forward to meeting your fans who will tell me how expensive it was and how many flights it took to get from eastern North Carolina to Sacramento. DJ also has Gonzaga as a 3 in Greensboro, and Baylor as a 2 in Des Moines, and K-State as a 3 in Denver, and… we’ve been over this. Over and over and over and over.
So that’ll do it for the Bracketologists. I stand by my “UCLA and Gonzaga” prediction. I won’t be surprised if Arizona gets the nod instead, but in that case I’ll also be surprised if Gonzaga is any further east than Denver. Baylor in Greensboro or Orlando makes more sense, and I’m sticking to it. If the committee has any sense, they’ll do the geographically correct thing. And of that, I always have my doubts.