Bracketology Forecasts Have BYU Trending Up Entering Big 12 Tournament
Mar 11, 2024, 7:25 AM
BYU basketball is trending toward a Top-16 seed in various Bracketology projections for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – We’ve reached the final week of bracketology projections before we get the actual NCAA Tournament field revealed this Sunday.
BYU basketball knows it will be part of the field of 68 for the first time since 2021. The question is, what seed will they be?
As BYU prepares to play in its first-ever Big 12 Tournament this week in Kansas City, the Cougars have a chance to be a top-16 team in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
Bracketology has BYU moving toward a Top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament
While BYU earned a 5-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, bracketology forecasts have BYU trending toward a 4-seed in the Big Dance.
BYU finished the 2024 regular season with a 22-9 overall record and, perhaps more importantly, a 10-8 record in Big 12 play.
The Cougars finished the year 6-7 against Quad One opponents, 4-2 against Quad Two teams, and a perfect 12-0 against Quad Three and Quad Four opponents.
BYU will tip off its Big 12 Tournament run this week on Wednesday when it faces either Oklahoma State or UCF in the Second Round. If it wins that game, it will play Texas Tech on Thursday.
ESPN/Joe Lunardi: 5-seed vs. James Madison in Salt Lake City
Joe Lunardi made a guest appearance during the broadcast of BYU’s regular-season finale against Oklahoma State over the weekend. When play-by-play announcer Pete Sousa asked if Salt Lake City was possible for BYU, Lunardi replied, “Yes.”
Lunardi said that the NCAA Tournament Committee would have no problem putting a 4-seed or 5-seed BYU in Salt Lake City.
If BYU doesn’t end up in Salt Lake City, Lunardi’s forecasts project Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, would be next in line for the Cougars.
Right now, Lunardi has BYU in Salt Lake City facing JMU from the Sun Belt Conference.
CBS: 4-seed vs. UC Irvine in Salt Lake City
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has BYU among the Top-16 seeds in the 2024 NCAA Tournament in his latest Bracketology.
Palm places BYU as the lowest 4-seed and has them facing projected Big West auto bid UC Irvine.
The other 4-seeds in Palm’s Bracketology include Alabama, Kentucky, and Illinois.
TeamRankings: 5-seed
While Jerry Palm bumped BYU to a 4-seed, TeamRankings, who has had BYU as a 4-seed for weeks, moved them down to the second-highest-rated 5-seed in their bracketology.
had to show a few more angles of this beauty🤌 pic.twitter.com/TI75nu5JA5
— BYU Men's Basketball (@BYUMBB) March 11, 2024
Haslam Metrics: 5-seed
The Haslam Metrics have BYU as the highest-rated 5-seed. Haslam’s 5-seeds have a strong western flair with BYU, Nevada, Gonzaga, and Utah State.
Heat Check CBB: 5-seed vs. USF
USF lost over the weekend, ending its 15-game winning streak. The Bulls might now need to win the AAC Tournament to clinch a bid.
BYU last played USF two years ago in the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii. The Cougars won, holding the Bulls to 39 points.
FOX Sports: 5-seed
BYU is the highest-rated 5-seed in FOX Sports’ Bracketology. The other teams around BYU on the FOX S-Curve include Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, and South Carolina.
Blogging The Bracket: 4-seed vs. UC Irvine in Salt Lake City
Another bracket that projects BYU against the Anteaters in Salt Lake City. Opposite BYU and UC Irvine in this quadrant is 5-seed Wisconsin against 12-seed Appalachian State from the Sun Belt Conference.
Looking at where BYU’s opponents land in Bracketology
Nine of BYU’s opponents on the 2023-24 schedule land in the composite compiled by the Bracket Matrix. Here’s where those teams land entering the weekend.
- Houston – 1-seed
- Iowa State – 2-seed
- Baylor – 3-seed
- Kansas – 3-seed
- San Diego State – 5-seed (Down from a 4-seed last week)
- Texas Tech – 7-seed
- Texas – 8-seed
- Oklahoma – 9-seed
- TCU – 9-seed
- Utah – Next Four Out (Down from First Four Out)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
