This does not necessarily make UCLA a likely upset pick, but it does diminish their ceiling. Center Adem Bona also is dealing with a shoulder injury, though head coach Mick Cronin is confident he’ll be ready to play early in the Bruins’ postseason. Without Clark, the Bruins will need to lean on freshmen Amari Bailey and Dylan Andrews. He was an anchor for the Bruins’ top-ranked defense (according to KenPom) and had an even better care for the basketball than steadyhanded point guard Tyger Campbell. Clark blossomed with an expanded role in his junior season.

Then the Bruins lost Jaylen Clark for the rest of the season with an achilles injury. The 2 seed is a stalwart defense-first UCLA team that going into March had the components of a championship contender: NBA-level talent, albeit coming from their younger rotational pieces, and senior leadership both in the frontcourt and backcourt. Interestingly enough, Kansas is ranked behind Gonzaga in the KenPom standings on Selection Sunday. It hasn’t been announced yet if Self will be coaching or traveling with the team. But it's hard to imagine the Jayhawks will not be affected by the health implications of head coach Bill Self, who was hospitalized during the Big 12 tournament, requiring stents to be placed in his heart. Kansas played a complete, competent season as a top-10 team every week of the AP poll. What makes the region particularly appealing for the Zags is the vulnerability of the two top seeds.

We’ll have a more thorough breakdown of GCU later in the week. The Antelopes rank 23rd in the country for 3-point shooting. Grand Canyon will try to fight Gonaga’s fiery offense with its own scoring firepower. Gonzaga’s first game is in the late afternoon on Friday, playing a Grand Canyon team that went inferno hot in the WAC conference tournament to steal the league’s bid despite its sixth-place finish. There is always the chance for rust, we saw this in the opening round last season against Georgia State, but Gonzaga getting this bracket while playing their best basketball of the season and without the attention of the last two tournaments should be a welcomed change of pace. The Zags earned a 3 seed after turning the jets on in February and will get to play out west with favorable matchups sprinkled throughout the way. The path is set and though you won’t hear it from the coaching staff, Gonzaga must be absolutely ecstatic with the draw the selection committee gave them on Sunday.

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