The 2022 men’s NCAA basketball tournament was a disappointing one for the state of Utah, as none of the six eligible teams made it into the field of 68.
Will that change in 2023?
Earlier this week, ESPN expert bracketologist Joe Lunardi revealed his first projected bracket for next year, and it has no teams from Utah in it.
As far as the conferences the seven Utah teams are in, here’s Lunardi’s breakdown of who he projects to make the field:
- Utah — Pac-12: Colorado, UCLA, USC, Oregon, Arizona.
- BYU — West Coast: Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s.
- Utah State — Mountain West: Colorado State, Wyoming, San Diego State.
- Weber State — Big Sky: Montana State.
- UVU, SUU, Utah Tech — Western Athletic (SUU will be joining the WAC from the Big Sky, and Dixie State will be known as Utah Tech beginning later this year): New Mexico State.
As far as BYU’s future conference — the Big 12 — is concerned, Lunardi projects that seven teams will make the tournament next year: TCU, Kansas (the 2022 national champion), Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Baylor and Oklahoma.
Houston, one of the teams that will be joining the Big 12 alongside UCF and Cincinnati the season after next, is also in Lunardi’s projected field.
UCLA, Baylor and Houston are three of Lunardi’s four projected No. 1 overall seeds, with Kentucky being the other.