Latest news with #Lunardi
USA Today
10 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
MSU basketball drops in updated 'Bracketology' from ESPN's Joe Lunardi
We are months away from tipping off the next college basketball season, but, hey, it's never too early for bracketology, right? ESPN's Joe Lunardi has released an updated batch of bracketology for the 2026 NCAA Tournament and to no surprise Michigan State is safely in the field of 68. But the Spartans did slip since the last time Lunardi released a bracket projection earlier this offseason. Lunardi currently has Michigan State as the No. 5 seed in the East Region with a first round matchup against Missouri Valley Conference champion Illinois State in Buffalo. In this projected bracket, Michigan State would face the winner of No. 4 seed Arkansas and No. 13 seed Miami (OH) should they knock off Illinois State in the first round. Michigan State is looking to continue the hot play from last year's Big Ten championship season and Elite Eight finish next season. The Spartans have widely been projected as a top 25 team in the preseason polls for next year so Lunardi's projection of a No. 5 seed is aligned with the national media. Click on the post below to read the complete NCAA Tournament bracket projection from Lunardi: 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
16 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN updates 2026 bracketology: Where will Iowa basketball be?
In Joe Lunardi's July 29 update to ESPN's Way-Too-Early bracketology for the 2026 NCAA Tournament, Iowa basketball earned a rather difficult prediction position as the Hawkeyes enter their first season under new head coach Ben McCollum. According to Lunardi's updated prediction, Iowa is said to finish as an 11-seed as part of the "Last Four In" grouping alongside Texas A&M, Miami, and SMU. Iowa's placement would have them face the Mustangs in the First Four for the right to play No. 6-seeded Kansas in the St. Louis regional. The newest projections also include 10 other Big Ten programs at the following positions: Purdue (Conference automatic qualifier, No. 1), Michigan (No. 2), Illinois (No. 4), UCLA (No. 4), Michigan State (No. 5), Ohio State (No. 6), Wisconsin (No. 7), Oregon (No. 7), USC (No. 7), and Maryland (No. 9). Washington is forecasted to be the "Last Team Out", according to the most recent model. The Hawkeyes' 2025-26 roster will include 12 newcomers on the 14-player roster, with five players (Bennett Stirtz, Kael Combs, Isaia Howard, Tavion Banks, and Cam Manyawu) coming via the transfer portal to follow Ben McCollum from Drake to Iowa. In addition to the Drake transfers, Iowa also received portal commitments from Brendan Hausen (Kansas State) and Alvaro Folgueiras (Robert Morris), and the return of Cooper Koch. Despite the program's major offseason roster and program staff overhaul following the March firing of former head coach Fran McCaffery and subsequent hiring of McCollum later in the month, the Hawkeyes did not move much from Lunardi's June projection, which also had them playing in the First Four round. Regardless of the predictions, Iowa must prove to Lunardi, the NCAA Selection Committee, and the rest of the nation that it deserves more respect, given the talent assembled on the team and the pedigree of its head coach. While a full schedule has yet to be officially released, the Hawkeyes will begin their first season under McCollum on Nov. 4 against Robert Morris at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions. Follow Scout on X: @SpringgateNews.
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN's preseason bracketology places Auburn basketball in South Regional
Is Auburn in a position to repeat last season's success in the NCAA Tournament? A heat wave is currently occupying Auburn, leaving fans wishing for cooler days and action on the hardwood. The Tigers are about three months away from tipping off the 2025-26 season, but preseason projections are scratching the itch of fans everywhere. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has contributed to the preseason chatter by releasing his early "Bracketology" following a wild offseason that featured strong transfer portal movement, recruiting efforts, and stars entering the NBA draft. Early on, at least, Lunardi does not project Auburn to repeat last season's success where they grabbed the No. 1 overall seed. However, the NCAA Tournament guru expects Auburn to have a great season in which they take the No. 4 seed in the South Region, the same region in which the Tigers began their postseason run last season. The early projection places Auburn in a bracket that features plenty of teams they will see during the season. Auburn will face Purdue, the South's projected No. 1 seed, in Indianapolis this season. The Tigers will also see Arizona (No. 3) and Oregon (No. 7) in non-conference play, while battling No. 8 Missouri and No. 10 Vanderbilt in SEC action. Auburn will also face Memphis in an exhibition game in October. The Memphis Tigers are the No. 11 seed in the early forecast from ESPN's Lunardi. Projections of any kind this early are almost destined to be wrong by season's end. However, the field that Lunardi projects for Auburn will be a great litmus test to determine just how strong the team will be this season. Auburn will enter the season with low expectations following the departures of key players such as Johni Broome, Denver Jones, Miles Kelly, and Dylan Cardwell to graduation, and the transfer of Chad Baker-Mazara to USC. Tahaad Pettiford will get the chance to take over the Tigers' starting point guard role, and will have a great supporting cast that features Mississippi State transfer Keshawn Murphy, UCF transfer Keyshawn Murphy, JUCO talent Abdul Bashir, and International player Filip Jovic. While the potential is there for Auburn to keep its momentum from last season's Final Four run, there is plenty of uncertainty surrounding the team and they will need to play at a high level early to solidify their status as a high-seed caliber squad. Lunardi projects the other Final Four teams from last season, Florida, Houston, and Duke, to occupy the No. 1 seeds of the three remaining regionals. Other teams of note include Alabama (No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region), Tennessee (No. 3 in the Midwest Regional), and Arkansas (No. 4 in the East Regional). The SEC is slated to produce 14 NCAA Tournament teams in Lunardi's preseason projection, which is the most among all conferences. Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Taylor on Twitter @TaylorJones__
USA Today
16-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ohio State basketball drops a bit in latest Joe Lunardi March Madness bracketolgy
Yeah, most of us are counting the days down to the start of Ohio State football, but each month that passes by also gets us closer and closer to the start of another college basketball season. To be fair, there's been a little apathy from fans on the banks of the Olentangy with the men's basketball program because the administration just doesn't seem to have the same set of winning expectations the football program has, especially after missing the NCAA Tournament three straight years now. But there is some optimism growing in Columbus after several transfer portal additions, and perhaps, even some addition by subtraction for guys that underperformed. Add those ingredients to the mix of returning production like guards Bruce Thornton and John Mobley Jr., as well as forward Devin Royal, and maybe, just maybe, head coach Jake Diebler can get this thing turned around. The national media seem to be buying into what Ohio State can be this winter as well. Even ESPN's resident bracketologist, Joe Lunardi, has been fairly bullish on the Buckeyes, having them as a way-too-early No. 4 seed during his May effort of projecting all the teams that will make the 2026 NCAA Tournament. But that has slipped a little, according to what Lunardi shared for his June bracketology drop. No longer does one of the most popular bracketologists no longer have OSU on the No. 4 seed line; he's actually dropped the Buckeyes two seed lines down to No. 6. That seems a little harsh based on really not a whole lot of movement in a month by teams either way during the offseason, but based on what we've seen from Ohio State over the last three years, I guess it is to be expected. So, where and who does Lunardi have the Buckeyes playing in the first round (keeping in mind there's no way this will be right at this point in trying to figure it all out)? Ohio State is slotted in the West region, playing in San Diego against No. 11 seed VCU. We could throw out more caveats than an insurance terms and conditions disclosure here, so don't get too upset about any of this. After all, would you sign up for this now, knowing that OSU hasn't been a part of March Madness since 2022? I think so. Now, we'll let you get back to your regularly scheduled football programming ... 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
27-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Here's where Florida basketball lands in ESPN's June bracketology update
The summer doldrums are here for college sports, but that certainly does not slow down ESPN's Joe Lunardi and his monthly bracketology updates, in which he revises his forecast for the 2026 NCAA Tournament. 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 (and exit) in his projections as he fine-tunes his crystal ball. While the latest update was released prior to the 2025 NBA draft, those results have no bearing on Lunardi's latest revision. Here is a look at where the Florida Gators now stand, as well as their Southeastern Conference peers and others. Florida basketball's seeding in ESPN's 2026 bracketology In Lunardi's May installment, 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, the Gators are now the top overall seed while placed in the East Region against the 16th-seeded Southeast Missouri State Redhawks in Tampa. "No one would question the significant personnel losses incurred by defending NCAA champion Florida," Lunardi begins. "Replacing a backcourt of Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin is no easy task: The trio combined for better than 46 points per game, and Clayton made numerous clutch shots in the Gators' title-winning season. ESPN 100 freshmen Alexander Lloyd and Cornelius Ingram Jr. will help fill the void, but it's two stellar transfer portal additions — Xaivian Lee (Princeton) and the surprising entry Boogie Fland (Arkansas) — who make the Gators a legitimate threat to repeat," he continues. "Add returning big man Alex Condon to an already loaded frontcourt, and it's no wonder Florida jumps up to the top line. This team has all the pieces to make a Final Four return and win the title again. The Gators won't be overwhelming favorites like Billy Donovan's repeat champions in 2007, but the 2026 Gators will be in the mix next March." Top seeds in ESPN's 2026 bracketology Along with Florida in the East, the other three top seeds in the June edition of ESPN's bracketology are the Houston Cougars – the team UF beat to win the national championship — who remain in the Midwest, as well as the Duke Blue Devils, who moved from the South to the West Region, and Purdue Boilermakers who are now in the South after landing in the Midwest last month. The Gators' promotion bumped the UConn Huskies from the top seed in the West. SEC schools in ESPN's 2026 bracketology The SEC added a school to its bracketology tally and now has 14 of its 16 member schools mentioned in Lunardi's update, headlined by the top-seeded Orange and Blue. The Tennessee Volunteers moved up to No. 2 in the West while the Kentucky Wildcats remained a No. 3 seed but moved back to the Midwest. The Auburn Tigers bumped up to a No. 4 seed in the South, followed by the Arkansas Razorbacks, who slipped to No. 5 in the Midwest, and the Alabama Crimson Tide, who rose to No. 5 in the West. The Missouri Tigers are still a No. 7 seed in the East, while the Vanderbilt Commodores (West) and Oklahoma Sooners (South) and Mississippi State Bulldogs (Midwest) are No. 8 seeds, Texas Longhorns (East) at No. 9, Ole Miss Rebels (West) and Georgia Bulldogs (South) at No. 10. The Texas A&M Aggies entered the bracket at No. 11 and are lined up among the first four matchups. 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.
