Which CBB programs in Utah are projected to make the NCAA Tournament this year?
Less than month remains until the start of the college basketball season — men’s and women’s both — and as such preseason projections/predictions are in, via ESPN’s bracketologoy.
These predictions are for NCAA Tournament inclusion only, with Joe Lunardi’s men’s bracket being updated on Tuesday, while Charlie Creme’s women’s bracket received a similar update late last month.
If the projections play out as expected, a few Utah-based programs will be going dancing this year, men’s and women’s, just maybe not every program you’d expect or hope for.
On the men’s side only one program is projected to make the 68-team field by Lunardi — Weber State.
Lunardi predicts the Wildcats will win the Big Sky Tournament and earn the automatic bid for the conference this season, ending up a 15-seed.
Weber State hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2016 and has only gone dancing 16 times in its history, so a breakthrough for the Wildcats and head coach Eric Duft would be significant.
Neither BYU, Utah nor Utah State are expected to make the tournament, an understandable projection given BYU is transitioning to the Big 12 (one of the best CBB conferences in the country), while Utah is still in rebuilding mode coming off a 17-15 season and Utah State has a completely new roster and head coach.
The Big 12, Pac-12 and Mountain West all have projected NCAA tourney participants, though:
In the Big 12, Kansas (No. 1 seed), Houston (No. 2 seed), Texas (No. 3 seed), Baylor (No. 5 seed), TCU (No. 7 seed) Iowa State (No. 9 seed), West Virginia (No. 9 seed), Kansas State (No. 11 seed) and Texas Tech (play-in No. 11 seed).
In the Pac-12, Arizona (No. 3 seed), UCLA (No. 6 seed), USC (No. 6 seed), Oregon (No. 9 seed) and Colorado (No. 10 seed).
In the Mountain West, San Diego State (No. 7 seed).
On the women’s side of things, two Utah-based programs are projected to make the NCAA Tournament in 2024 — the University of Utah and Southern Utah.
The Utes are anything but a surprise, and slated as a No. 2 seed. Utah is the favorite to win the Pac-12 this season, receiving seven out of 12 first place votes in the Pac-12’s coaches and media preseason polls.
Five returning starters from a team that finished 27-5 and advanced to the Sweet 16 eventual national champion LSU will do that for you.
As for the Thunderbirds, they are projected to be a 14-seed for the second consecutive season, after making it the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history last season, their first year as members of the WAC.
The Pac-12, meanwhile, has nine teams projected to make the field, with UCLA the highest seed as a No. 1.
The Big 12 is expected to have seven teams in the tourney, headlined by Baylor (No. 4 seed).
BYU women’s basketball is in a rebuild, entering its second year under Amber Whiting, and Utah State women’s basketball is coming off a dismal 4-26 season in the second year under Kayla Ard.
