The NCAA tournament’s field of 68 was unveiled Sunday night. They’ll have a fight on their hands, but Mark Few’s Gonzaga Bulldogs are the West region’s top seed.
NCAA basketball bracket 2017: West region led by Gonzaga, Arizona
Gonzaga takes its 32-1 season to the NCAA Tournament yet again, while Arizona comes second.
Gonzaga has had a remarkable season. The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a loss to BYU, then recovered in time to win the WCC tournament and lock in the West’s top seed. Their task now: to finally reach a Final Four after more than a decade of contending and then failing sometime in March.
The Zags have been consistent for a long time, and this season was no exception. They’ve made every Big Dance since 1999, a streak that started in Dan Monson’s last year running the program and that’s continued under Few.
They’ve reached a couple of Elite Eights, but they haven’t gotten past that point. The Adam Morrison Zags couldn’t, nor could the Kelly Olynyk Zags, the Kyle Wiltjer and Kevin Pangos and Domantas Sabonis Zags, or any other group of Zags. Tons of great players have come through Spokane, but none have finished the job. This group — led by Nigel Williams-Goss and Przemek Karnowski — could change that.
Northwestern makes the tournament for the first time in the program’s 78-year history, coming in as a No. 8 seed where it’ll face No. 9-seeded Vanderbilt. That’s a matchup that should be plenty of fun.
After Gonzaga, the West’s next top seed is No. 2 Arizona, which is this season’s Pac-12 champion. The Wildcats are led by Allonzo Trier and projected NBA lottery pick Lauri Markkanen.
Here’s the full bracket.
All four regions can be found here. The West’s Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games are at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on March 23 and 25. Whoever survives heads to Glendale, Ariz., to to represent the region in the Final Four. It’ll be a fun journey to that point.
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