Gonzaga Gets a No. 2 Seed in Lunardi's Way Too Early 2027 Bracket and It's Actually Wild

The transfer portal door barely closed on Tuesday, April 21, and Joe Lunardi is already at his desk doing what he does best: projecting the entire 68-team NCAA Tournament field for March 2027. Yeah, it's absurdly early. Yeah, thousands of players are still unsigned. Yeah, nobody should take this seriously. But that's never stopped the bracketology diehards, and honestly, it's fun to peek at what's coming.

Gonzaga Gets Home Court Advantage for the First Two Games

Here's what jumped out: Mark Few's Gonzaga Bulldogs landed a No. 2 seed in the Midwest region, which means they'd open the Big Dance at the Spokane Arena for their first two games. That's massive. Lunardi has them matched up against a projected No. 15 seed Merrimack in the first round. The Warriors went 23-11 last year before losing in the MAAC Tournament championship to Siena, who nearly pulled off a miracle upset against No. 1 Duke in the first round.

Indiana's Transfer Portal Haul Is Turning Heads

The projected No. 7 vs. No. 10 matchup in Spokane features the Indiana Hoosiers and LSU Tigers, and Indiana is already being called one of the biggest transfer portal winners. The Hoosiers landed four transfers ranked inside the top 275 at EvanMiya: No. 8 Aiden Sherrell from Alabama, No. 93 Markus Burton from Notre Dame, No. 120 Samet Yigitoglu from SMU, and No. 274 Bryce Lindsay from Villanova. They also grabbed shooting guard Jaeden Mustaf from Georgia Tech and Duke guard Darren Harris, a former Top 50 prospect.

LSU, meanwhile, brought back Will Wade as head coach. Wade previously got fired from LSU for recruiting violations, then had stints at McNeese State (where he lost in a blowout to No. 5 Gonzaga in 2024) and NC State before returning to Baton Rouge. The Tigers landed star forward Mo Dioubate from Kentucky but watched eight players transfer out, including star guard Dedan Thomas and center Michael Nwoko, who headed to Houston and Xavier respectively.

The Gonzaga Picture Is Still Foggy

Here's the thing: Gonzaga has only nine of their 15 roster spots filled right now, which makes any projection for 2026-27 basically a guess. The Zags returned three key players in Braden Huff, Mario Saint-Supery, and Davis Fogle, while adding Houston transfer Isiah Harwell to the mix. There's a lot of roster-building still ahead, but the early projection says the talent is shaping up nicely.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.