ESPN Includes OSU Among 2019 NCAA Tournament Field in Early Bracketology

The NCAA Tournament just ended two nights ago, so yeah, it’s a bit premature to start projecting what next season’s field might look like. But what the heck, why not?

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi released his way-too-early field of 68 for 2019 earlier this week, and apparently he heard enough complaining from OSU fans after continuously omitting the Pokes from his 2018 projections that he decided he would cave in.

In Lunardi’s projection, he has Oklahoma State among the last four teams in as an 11 seed, meaning OSU would be one of the teams forced to play its way into the tournament through Dayton.

Just filed the first 2019 bracket. Will be posted later in the week. Should be no complaints from Syracuse, Nebraska or Oklahoma State. ??

— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) April 3, 2018

As for the rest of his projections, here are the notable ones I found interesting …

No. 1 seeds

Duke, Kansas, Gonzaga, Villanova

Big 12 projected seeding

No. 1 Kansas, No. 4 Texas Tech, No. 4 Kansas State, No. 5 West Virginia, No. 6 TCU, No. 11 Oklahoma State

Big 12 teams projected to miss the tournament

Baylor, Texas, Iowa State, Oklahoma