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Arizona's projected bracketology before huge game at Iowa State

Arizona is on the bubble for being a top four regional seed in the NCAA Tournament before its huge game at Iowa State on Saturday.
ByAlan Rubenstein|
Jan 27, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (2) and Arizona Wildcats forward Carter Bryant (9) reach for the ball during overtime at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
Jan 27, 2025; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Iowa State Cyclones forward Joshua Jefferson (2) and Arizona Wildcats forward Carter Bryant (9) reach for the ball during overtime at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Arizona is on the bubble between being seeded fourth and fifth in the NCAA Tournament by Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, Joe Lunardi of ESPN and Andy Katz of NCAA.Com in their projected bracketology. Arizona has a huge opportunity to improve its NCAA Tournament seed at Iowa State on Saturday and next week at Kansas.

In his Bracketology update posted on Friday morning, Palm projects Arizona as the fifth seed in the West Regional playing in the Denver pod against 12th-seeded Drake. Drake is 24-3 and 59th in the NCAA Net Ratings under first-year head coach Ben McCollum. McCollum led Northwest Missouri State to Four Division II National Championships.

Palm has Missouri as the fourth seed played 13th seed Yale with the winner playing Arizona or Drake in Denver in the second-round. Houston is the one seed in the West Regional that is in San Francisco, with Tennessee second and Michigan third. Playing Houston in a projected regional semifinal is a difficult draw.

Lunardi projects Arizona as the fourth seed in the Midwest Regional in Indianapolis playing 13th-seeded Akron in the Seattle pod. The winner between Arizona and Akron would play whoever emerges victorious between fifth-seeded Maryland and 12th-seed McNeese State in the second round.

Lunardi has Alabama as the top seed in the Midwest. Michigan State is the projected third seed in the Midwest, followed by third-seeded Texas A&M. Arizona and Michigan State both advanced to the Midwest Regional in the 2009 NCAA Tournament but did not play each other. Arizona lost to Louisville in the regional semifinals.

Katz posted his projections on Tuesday and obviously does not take into account Arizona's win over Utah on Wednesday night. Arizona is projected as a four-seed in the East versus 13th-seed Chattanooga. Katz only posts regional projections and not the pods or locations for the first or second rounds.

Katz projects Missouri as the fifth seed in the East Regional playing the winner of North Carolina and Ohio State who Katz has as a First Four Game in Dayton. Duke, Tennessee and Michigan are the top three seeds in the East in Katz's projections. Arizona's NCAA Tournament projection could change after the outcome at Iowa State on Saturday.

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