WKU Basketball: Preseason Bracketology Roundup
The 2018–19 WKU basketball season promises to be the most anticipated season in recent memory. The Tops return a core of several impact…
The 2018–19 WKU basketball season promises to be the most anticipated season in recent memory. The Tops return a core of several impact players and role players to go along with perhaps the top recruiting class in school history. With all of that coming together, the Tops are getting some preseason love in terms of being included in several bracket projections.
With the collective talent and a schedule that includes Washington, West Virginia (probably), Wisconsin, Arkansas, St Mary’s and Belmont the team could easily warrant at-large consideration even if they sustain a few losses (6–7 range) on the season.
Here are your preseason Bracketology projections for WKU across the internet on November 5, 2018.
ESPN — 12 Seed, South Region (Louisville)
Joe Lunardi has WKU as Conference USA’s lone tournament participant. He has the Tops in the favorable 12–5 matchup against Leonard Hamilton’s Florida State squad that made a surprise run to Elite Eight last season. Should they survive they would get another fun matchup potentially against Michigan before potentially getting a dream match-up (for WKU fans) with Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen (in Louisville). The draw would be tough be the ride could potentially be amazing.
CBS Sports — 9 Seed, West Region
This draw by Jerry Palm has the best seeding projection that I’ve seen. It has the Tops in the tricky 8/9 matchup against a Florida squad coming off a second-round exit in the 2018 NCAA tournament. Should the Tops survive the Gators then they’d get a shot at mastering Virginia’s pack-line defense (hey, UMBC did it) with a very beatable seed if they make it past the Cavaliers. A trip to Columbia, South Carolina is doable for fans but the Sweet Sixteen trip to Anaheim might be tough for most average fans.
Sports Illustrated — 11 Seed, West Region
Michael Beller might have given the Tops their best draw of all the preseason prognostications. First, they’d have to play a Clemson team coming off their first NCAA tournament appearance in eight years and should they survive they’d play a slow down Kansas State as a three seed. They’d then probably play a Tennessee squad also low on tournament experience in the Sweet Sixteen. This all measures up a quality slate that could lead WKU on another memorable run.
After the recent media layoffs, former ESPN chief basketball insider, Andy Katz has landed on his feet writing on the NCAA’s official website. He not only has Marshall claiming Conference USA’s lone bid but has the Herd as his best upset pick, having them beating Washington in the first round before bowing out once again against West Virginia. Let’s hope he’s wrong in his predictions because I don’t think I could handle the Herd making their second tournament appearance in two years while the Tops are once again relegated to the NIT.
NBC Sports — 11 Seed, South Region
This projection by Dave Ommen has the Tops traveling to the very drivable Columbus, Ohio for a fun first-round matchup against Will Wade’s Bayou Bengals. (ed. note — Columbus is great and Nationwide Arena is incredible. I’d love to see this happen) Should they survive they’d get to face off against either Mike Izzo’s always sound Michigan State Spartans or get a potential juicy matchup against former coach Ray Harper’s Gamecocks of Jacksonville State. I love this draw especially since they’d get to avoid a 1 seed in the Sweet 16 as they may be able to have a home-court advantage against North Carolina in Louisville’s KFC Yum Center. That’s something that most college basketball fans couldn’t imagine happening but I'd love to see Hilltopper Nation show out less than 2 hours up I-65.
Inside The Hall — 11 Seed, Avoiding the First Four
This Indiana Hoosiers blog does a great job of projecting the tournament. They have the following write up about the Tops:
Just two of five double-digit scorers are back for the Hilltoppers, but Rick Stansbury added a five-star recruit in big man Charles Bassey to go with grad transfer Desean Murray from Auburn. Virtually all of the key returnees are in the backcourt, led by Taveion Hollingsworth (13.3 ppg) and Lamonte Bearden (11.1 ppg, 3.4 apg). Western Kentucky had an up and down season that included wins over Purdue and SMU at the Battle 4 Atlantis followed by losses in three of their next four games, a 14–2 start in C-USA play, losses in their final two league games, and a run to the NIT semi-finals. I’m pegging them as the Conference USA favorites, but Marshall, Old Dominion, and even North Texas will make the race atop the league an interesting one.
They obviously did their research. Let’s hope they’re right as being an 11 seed definitely helps their chances of a long tournament run.
Busting Brackets — Bubble: Out
Fansided’s College Basketball blog has Marshall claiming Conference USA’s lone bid as a 13 seed in the South region. They at least have WKU under consideration but it looks like they value Jon Elmore and Marshall’s experience over WKU’s upside.
Hero Sports — 12 Seed, West Region
In what would be WKU’s most juicy first round match-up they’d get a battle of Stansbury versus his former team, the Bulldogs of Mississippi State. Should they survive they could get an Oregon squad that features another one of the nation’s top freshman in Bol Bol. A fun mid-major matchup against Gonzaga could await WKU should they advance to the Sweet Sixteen in Anaheim with the Tops getting a chance to avenge the 2009 NCAA tournament second-round heartbreak they suffered against the Zags.
Stadium- 13 Seed- South Region
The digital network that you’ll get to see WKU play on at least six times this season has added a writing staff to their website including our favorite insider to hate Jeff Goodman. Writer Tim Krueger gives WKU Conference USA’s lone bid but also gives WKU their worst seeding at the 13 line in a rematch of WKU’s 2008 Sweet 16 match-up against the UCLA Bruins all the way out in San Jose. Should they advance they’d draw a favorable match-up in the survivor of the 12/5 game before another prediction of a Sweet 16 match-up with the UK Wildcats. Fingers crossed as the South region seems to be the most popular area the preseason prognostications put the Tops in.
The Bracketeer- 11 Seed- East Region (Last Four In)
Rocco Miller runs his own Bracketology site called The Bracketeer he provides updates throughout the year and his site is pretty solid. He has the only preseason bracket that has Conference USA getting two bids. He has Marshall claiming the C-USA tournament title and gives them a 12 seed. He has WKU in as an at-large team with the Tops claiming one of the last four teams spots in the tournament. He has them traveling to Dayton to play a first four match-up against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Should they survive they get a regional match-up against Archie Miller’s Hoosiers. While not ideal it is comforting to see at least one bracketologist see WKU’s at-large potential.
As you can tell, WKU is getting a lot of preseason respect though it’s not unanimous with the uphill battle for Conference USA to be a multi-bid league. Their schedule seems to help them be projected anywhere from a 9 seed to a 13 seed range which should bolster WKU’s chances of making a run.
We’ll continue to update you on the Tops bracket projections as the season progresses and will move to a weekly projection after the first of the year. As more publications start tracking the bracket we’ll update our list as more come on board in the coming weeks/months. This should be very fun especially since we couldn’t do this same exercise for football this season.
What do you think about WKU’s NCAA tournament projections? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook