Gonzaga tabbed as No. 1 overall seed by NCAA selection committee during preview show

It’s been a full year since the NCAA’s selection committee last revealed its top 16 seeds in a preview-style show on CBS, but Saturday’s program may have felt vaguely familiar to the one that aired approximately 365 days earlier – especially for Gonzaga fans.

For the second consecutive year, committee members selected the Zags as the No. 1 overall seed while revealing their top 16 teams on Saturday morning. The CBS show aired 22 days before Selection Sunday, so Mark Few and Gonzaga still have plenty of work to do if they want to grab the school’s second consecutive – and second overall – top seed at the NCAA Tournament.

The Zags may need some help from others, too.

While Gonzaga, the country’s top team by just about every metric and ranking system, has impressed the NCAA’s selection committee , there wasn’t much of a gap between the Bulldogs and Auburn, the second overall seed chosen during Saturday’s bracket reveal.

“First, I would tell you Gonzaga and Auburn in the committee room, very close,” said Tom Burnett, commissioner of the Southland Conference and chair of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee. “Razor-thin I would even offer in the discussions and extended discussion between these two teams. They have different opportunities, but very close in the room.”

Gonzaga was chosen as the No. 1 seed in the West Region (San Francisco) and Auburn as the top seed in Midwest Region (Chicago). Kansas was the top seed in the East Region (Philadelphia) while Arizona, coached by former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd, was selected as the No. 1 seed in the South Region (San Antonio).

Rounding out the West Region were No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Illinois and No. 4 Texas. In the Midwest, No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Texas Tech and No. 4 UCLA followed behind Auburn. The East consisted of No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Villanova and No. 4 Wisconsin. No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Tennessee and No. 4 Providence joined Lloyd’s Wildcats in the South.

Gonzaga’s 3-1 record against opponents from the 16-team list revealed Saturday played a significant role in the Bulldogs earning the top overall seed. GU beat then-fifth-ranked Texas 86-74 in Spokane before pounding No. 2 UCLA 83-63 in Las Vegas. The Zags suffered an 84-81 loss to No. 5 Duke in Vegas three days later, but secured another strong nonconference win in mid-December, beating No. 25 Texas Tech 69-55 at a neutral site in Phoenix.

“Great quality wins that swayed the committee this week,” Burnett said. “They beat Texas Tech, they beat UCLA, they beat Texas. Having a fantastic season.”

In past years, the Bulldogs have been hampered by the strength, or lack thereof, of their West Coast Conference schedule. It hasn’t been as much of a detriment this year. Even as ESPN’s Joe Lunardi revealed a bracket projection with just three WCC teams on Saturday, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm still thinks a four-bid WCC is in play.

Palm’s projections during the bracket show included San Francisco as a No. 9 seed in the South, BYU as a No. 10 seed in the South and Saint Mary’s as a No. 6 seed in the East.

“Well, people like to talk about their league, which obviously is not on the level of some of the other candidates, but their nonconference schedule is always very arduous and the league is actually better than it’s been in the past,” CBS Sports’ Seth Davis said during the show. “We’ll see if that’s the case three weeks from today, because these other teams have a chance to get a lot more quality wins than Gonzaga does.”

The Bulldogs may not play another ranked opponent until the NCAA Tournament, but their remaining WCC regular-season schedule includes three games against teams that rank inside the top 76 of the NCAA’s NET rankings. Gonzaga could also play two such games in the WCC Tournament.