Final NCAA Tournament Projections for BYU Basketball Ahead of Selection Sunday
For the second consecutive season, BYU will hear its name called on Selection Sunday. The Cougars are locked into the NCAA Tournament field. The two things in question are which seed they will be and where they will play.
With just hours until BYU’s seed is announced, here is a recap of where BYU is projected to play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN – Joe Lunardi
Lunardi projects BYU to be a 5-seed playing in Denver. The Cougars would play the winner of the First Four game in the first round. That would be either Xavier or Indiana. If BYU beat Xavier/Indiana, they would advance to the second round to play the winner of Michigan-Akron.
Sports Illustrated – Kevin Sweeney
Kevin has BYU as a 6-seed playing UC San Diego.
The Athletic – Joe Rexrode
The Athletic has perhaps the most intriguing projection of any outlet. They have BYU as a 5-seed in Providence taking on 12-seed Yale. The winner of BYU-Yale would advance to take on the winner of Kentucky-Liberty.
In this projection, BYU and Kentucky would be favored to play against each other in the second round for a chance to advance to the Sweet 16.
USA Today
USA Today has BYU as a 5-seed taking on 12-seed Drake. The winner of BYU-Drake would advance to take on the winner of Maryland-Grand Canyon.
CBS Sports – Jerry Palm
Jerry Palm is always lower on BYU than the average and that trend is holding true this season. Palm has BYU all the down to a 7-seed taking on 10-seed Vanderbilt. The winner of BYU-Vanderbilt would likely take on 2-seed St. John’s in the second round. That would be the worst-case scenario for BYU.
On3 – James Fletcher
On3 has BYU as a 5-seed taking on 12-seed McNeese. The winner of BYU-McNeese would advance to take on the winner of Maryland-Yale.
