Latest news with #Lunardi
USA Today
21-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ohio State basketball gets favorable seed in Joe Lunardi's updated early bracketology
Ohio State basketball gets favorable seed in Joe Lunardi's updated early bracketology We are still months away from the next college basketball season, and with the way things ended for Ohio State, we can't blame folks for being laser-focused on football instead of looking ahead to basketball. However, there are those whose sole purpose is to project college hoops so we check in from time to time. One of those folks is ESPN's Joe Lunardi, who is really the one who popularized the term "bracketology," which generally means projecting and predicting the NCAA Tournament bracket early and often until things are set. To say that OSU is a bit of an unknown coming into the next season would be an understatement. It has veteran players like Bruce Thornton and Devin Royal back, but there was also a lot of turnover via the transfer portal. Still, Lunardi must think enough about where things stand with the current roster reconstruction and the coaching on board because he has Ohio State as a No. 4 seed. These things can and will change a thousand different ways from here until March, but right now Lunardi has the Buckeyes coming out of the Midwest Region in Chicago and playing Charleston. Buyer beware. Lunardi and many other bracketologists had Ohio State firmly in the NCAA field most of last season before the Buckeyes trailed off and ended up missing their third-straight March Madness. Let's hope that big turnaround we've all been hoping for happens this winter. 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.
USA Today
20-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN's latest bracketology for 2026 NCAA Tournament has Florida basketball seeded here
ESPN's latest bracketology for 2026 NCAA Tournament has Florida basketball seeded here The 2025-26 men's college basketball season is still just under six months away and the 2026 NCAA Tournament is even further, but ESPN's Joe Lunardi remains dedicated to his task of composing bracketology updates for the next installment of March Madness. Lunardi will be providing updates once a month until October as he navigates the various offseason topics that invariably affect his outlook. This time around, he is considering every transfer, portal maneuver and NBA draft entry in his projections as he fine-tunes his crystal ball. ESPN published the latest edition of his bracketology on Tuesday, which includes the NCAA national champion Florida Gators among the higher seeds. Take a look at where the Orange and Blue — as well as other programs — stand in the projections. Florida basketball's seeding in ESPN's 2026 bracketology In Lunardi's first installment of his bracketology, he had the Gators as a No. 3 seed in the South Region, matched up with the 14th-seeded Furman Paladins in Tampa, Florida. In his recent update, Florida remains a No. 3 seed but is now in the Midwest Region, where Todd Golden and Co. are projected to face off with the same Paladins, also played in Tampa. Keep in mind, the program made a huge wave by adding former Arkansas Razorbacks guard Boogie Fland through the transfer portal on Tuesday after the bracketology was released. So expect a good boost in June when Lunardi releases the next one. Top seeds in ESPN's 2026 bracketology Two of the top four seeds in ESPN's second 2026 bracketology are the Houston Cougars, who moved from the West to the Midwest, along with the Duke Blue Devils, who also made a move from the East to the South. The Purdue Boilermakers shifted over to the East from the Midwest, while the UConn Huskies displaced the St. John's Red Raiders among the top seeds and took over the West. SEC schools in ESPN's 2026 bracketology The Southeastern Conference is once again represented by a nation-best 13 schools in Lunardi's second bracketology for 2026, headlined by the Kentucky Wildcats at the No. 2 seed in the South after landing in the Midwest last time. The Tennessee Volunteers (West) and Florida (Midwest) are the No. 3 seeds representing the league, followed by the Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 4, East), Auburn Tigers (No. 5, South), Missouri Tigers (No. 7, East), Oklahoma Sooners (No. 7, West), Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 8, East), Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 8, Midwest), Vanderbilt Commodores (No. 8, West), Texas Longhorns (No. 9, South), Georgia Bulldogs (No. 10, Midwest) and Ole Miss Rebels (No. 11, East). Note that the Rebels are among the Last Four In and are projected to participate in the First Four play-in round. UGA is listed among the Last Four Byes. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
20-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Spartans listed as top four seed in updated ESPN 'Bracktology' for next season
Spartans listed as top four seed in updated ESPN 'Bracktology' for next season Michigan State basketball holds a top four seed in the latest ESPN bracketology update for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. We are still months away from tipping off the 2025-26 college basketball season, and even further away from the 2026 NCAA Tournament. But that didn't stop Joe Lunardi from releasing an updated batch of bracketology on Tuesday, which of course included the Spartans. Lunardi has Michigan State as the No. 4 seed in the South Region in his latest update. In the projected NCAA Tournament bracket, Michigan State would face No. 13 seed Miami (OH) in a first round matchup in Buffalo. On the other side of their opening weekend pod is No. 5 seed Auburn playing against No. 12 seed Illinois State. Lunardi has 11 teams from the Big Ten in his updated bracket, with Purdue as the highest-seeded team from the league as the Midwest Region No. 1 seed. Here's the other Big Ten teams included in Lunardi's updated bracket: Michigan (No. 2 seed), UCLA (No. 4 seed), Ohio State (No. 4 seed), Illinois (No. 5 seed), USC (No. 5 seed), Wisconsin (No. 6 seed), Iowa (No. 8 seed), Oregon (No. 9) and Maryland (No. 10 seed). He also has Indiana, Nebraska and Washington as three of the first four teams outside the field of 68. Check out the complete updated bracket projection from Lunardi by clicking on the post below: Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on X @RobertBondy5.
USA Today
30-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida basketball's seeding in ESPN's way-too-early bracketology for 2026 NCAA Tournament
Florida basketball's seeding in ESPN's way-too-early bracketology for 2026 NCAA Tournament There are 11 months until the 2026 NCAA men's basketball tournament, but apparently, it is never too early to start looking ahead to next year's edition of March Madness. ESPN's Joe Lunardi, who is the resident college hoops expert at the publication, recently released his way-too-early bracketology for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Here is what he has been up to. "We're tracking every transfer, portal maneuver and NBA draft entry (and exit) in a comprehensive database of rosters. We then use those rosters to project the offensive and defensive efficiency of each team and rank every conference. The result is an updated bracket each month from April through October." Florida basketball's seeding in ESPN's 2026 bracketology In Lunardi's first edition of the 2025-26 bracket, he has the Gators as a No. 3 seed in the South Region, where they are matched up with the 14th-seeded Furman Paladins in Tampa, Florida. The other side of their opening bracket has the sixth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers facing either the Ole Miss Rebels or the NC State Wolfpack — both holding a No. 11 seed. Top seeds in ESPN's 2026 bracketology The top four seeds in ESPN's way-too-early bracketology are the Houston Cougars (West) and Duke Blue Devils (East) — who are expected to once again enter the tournament with a No. 1 seeding just as they did in 2025 — along with the St. John's Red Raiders (South), who were a No. 2 seed this spring, and the Purdue Boilermakers (Midwest), who were a No. 4 seed during this year's Big Dance. SEC schools in ESPN's 2026 bracketology The Southeastern Conference is represented by a nation-best 13 schools in Lunardi's way-too-early projections, headlined by the Kentucky Wildcats at the No. 2 seed in the Midwest. The Tennessee Volunteers (West) and Florida (South) are the No. 3 seeds representing the league, followed by the Auburn Tigers (No. 4, Midwest), Arkansas Razorbacks (No. 5, West), Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 6, East), Missouri Tigers (No. 6, Midwest), Mississippi State Bulldogs (No. 7, South), Vanderbilt Commodores (No. 8, West), Texas Longhorns (No. 8, East), Georgia Bulldogs (No. 9, South), Oklahoma Sooners (No. 9, Midwest) and Ole Miss Rebels (No. 11, South). Note that the Rebels are among the First Four play-in round. Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
USA Today
30-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where Wisconsin basketball lands in Joe Lunardi's early bracketology for 2025-26 season
Where Wisconsin basketball lands in Joe Lunardi's early bracketology for 2025-26 season Wisconsin basketball is slotted as a No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi's way-too-early bracketology for the 2025-26 college basketball season. The Badgers are notably one of 12 Big Ten teams in the projected field, along with Purdue (No. 1-seed), Michigan (No. 2), Michigan State (No. 4), USC (No. 4), UCLA (No. 4), Ohio State (No. 5), Illinois (No. 7), Oregon (No. 8), Iowa (No. 9), Maryland (No. 10) and Indiana (No. 10). They are the seventh-highest-ranked of that group. Lunardi's tempered projection for the Badgers follows a busy month of roster movement. The program said goodbye to a significant senior class, including All-American wing John Tonje, starters Max Klesmit and Steven Crowl, and key role players Kamari McGee and Carter Gilmore. It then responded with an impressive transfer haul: Virginia wing Andrew Rohde, Portland forward Austin Rapp, San Diego State guard Nick Boyd and Tulsa guard Braeden Carrington. Those incoming players join a promising incoming high school recruiting class, headlined by four-star shooting guard Zach Kinziger and international signees Hayden Jones and Aleksas Bieliauskas. Wisconsin is looking to replicate its 2024-25 campaign, which saw it finish 27-10, contend for the Big Ten title and earn a No. 3 seed in the tournament. A repeat of that season would be a success, especially if the team reaches the tournament's second weekend for the first time since 2017. On paper, the 2025-26 Badgers line up extremely well. Rohde, Rapp and Boyd join rising stars John Blackwell (if he withdraws from the NBA draft) and Nolan Winter, forming a starting lineup that should be among the best in the Big Ten. With the emergence of a few key depth pieces, Wisconsin should again enter the conversation for a conference regular-season title. While it remains to be seen how those transfers mesh on the court, which is always a legitimate question, Wisconsin will be expected to earn better than a No. 6 seed. That ranking should quickly rise once the season tips off in November. Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion
