2024 NCAA Tournament Bracket Watch: Gonzaga looks like a bubble team

On Feb. 25, 1998, Russell Tyrone Jones made a bold, off-the-cuff proclamation that would change everything. Jones — better known by his stage name, Ol’ Dirty Bastard — interrupted Shawn Colvin’s Grammy win for Song of the Year with a rant that included this immortal line: “Wu-Tang is for the children.” ODB was upset that Wu-Tang Clan’s sophomore effort, “Wu-Tang Forever,” was beaten out for best rap album by Puff Daddy. Any children born after April 1998 have never known a world without the Zags in the big dance; the school’s 24 consecutive tournament bids rank as the third-longest active streak behind only Kansas and Michigan State, and it has seemed like Gonzaga would forever be gobbling up high seeds. And we swear we didn’t plan the Pitino vs. Pitino First Four matchup of New Mexico vs. St. John’s and didn’t even realize it until well after bracketing the game. First Four Dayton 16 Stetson 16 Grambling Dayton 11 Virginia 11 Texas A&M Dayton 16 Wagner 16 Norfolk State Dayton 11 St. John's 11 Indiana State Midwest Region Indianapolis 1 Purdue 16 Montana State Indianapolis 8 Texas 9 Colorado State Spokane 4 Alabama 13 Princeton Spokane 5 Clemson 12 South Florida Pittsburgh 3 Creighton 14 Morehead State Pittsburgh 6 Florida 11 James Madison Memphis 2 Baylor 15 Longwood Memphis 7 Gonzaga 10 Drake South Region Memphis 1 Houston 16 Wagner Norfolk State Memphis 8 Wisconsin 9 Florida Atlantic Spokane 4 Illinois 13 Toledo Spokane 5 South Carolina 12 McNeese State Pittsburgh 3 Kentucky 14 Oakland Pittsburgh 6 Washington State 11 St. John's Indiana State Charlotte 2 North Carolina 15 Sam Houston State Charlotte 7 Texas Tech 10 Seton Hall West Region Charlotte 1 Tennessee 16 Stetson Grambling Charlotte 8 Northwestern 9 TCU Salt Lake City 4 BYU 13 UC Irvine Salt Lake City 5 Utah State 12 Grand Canyon Indianapolis 3 Marquette 14 Charleston Indianapolis 6 Saint Mary's 11 Texas A&M Virginia Salt Lake City 2 Arizona 15 South Dakota State Salt Lake City 7 Nevada 10 Oklahoma East Region Brooklyn 1 Connecticut 16 Quinnipiac Brooklyn 8 Dayton 9 Nebraska Omaha 4 Kansas 13 Samford Omaha 5 Auburn 12 Richmond Pittsburgh 3 Duke 14 Vermont Pittsburgh 6 San Diego State 11 Mississippi State Omaha 2 Iowa State 15 Colgate Omaha 7 Boise State 10 Michigan State First Four Out Next Four Out Last Four In Last Four Byes Oregon Butler New Mexico Providence Kansas State Virginia Tech Northwestern Nebraska Wake Forest Texas Tech St. John's Utah State Arkansas St. Bonaventure Seton Hall Florida Multi-bid conferences SEC 9 Big East 7 Big Ten 7 Big 12 6 ACC 5 Mountain West 5 Pac-12 3 AAC 2 Seed list 1 Purdue AQ 2 Houston AQ 3 Kansas 4 Arizona AQ 5 UConn AQ 6 Marquette 7 Tennessee AQ 8 Memphis AQ 9 Clemson AQ 10 Kentucky 11 North Carolina 12 Wisconsin 13 Illinois 14 BYU 15 Colorado State AQ 16 Duke 17 Florida Atlantic 18 Baylor 19 Oklahoma 20 Auburn 21 Villanova 22 Texas A&M 23 Creighton 24 San Diego State 25 Ohio State 26 Alabama 27 Michigan State 28 Utah State 29 Colorado 30 Iowa State 31 Dayton AQ 32 Nevada 33 Virginia 34 Miami 35 Ole Miss 36 South Carolina 37 Gonzaga AQ 38 James Madison AQ 39 Mississippi State 40 Providence 41 Nebraska 42 Grand Canyon AQ 43 Utah State 44 Princeton AQ 45 Florida 46 Indiana State AQ 47 New Mexico 48 Northwestern 49 St. John's 50 Seton Hall 51 McNeese State AQ 52 UC Irvine AQ 53 Liberty AQ 54 Akron AQ 55 Weber State AQ 56 Purdue Fort Wayne AQ 57 Charleston AQ 58 Samford AQ 59 Morehead State AQ 60 Longwood AQ 61 Lipscomb AQ 62 Colgate AQ 63 UMass Lowell AQ 64 Canisius AQ 65 Southern AQ 66 Denver AQ 67 Norfolk State AQ 68 Merrimack AQ