The folks at the SB Nation mothership have released their latest 2011 NCAA Tournament Bracketology. The St. Mary's Gaels are the lone representative for the Bay Area and are currently slotted in as a ten seed against the UNLV Rebels out of the Mountain West Conference. Under this bracket projection, St. Mary's would be in the Chicago pod, playing their first round game on Friday. The winner of that game would face the winner of No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 15 Long Beach State. The West Coast Conference is projected to send two teams as Gonzaga is also slotted in as a ten seed facing Temple. Both the Gaels and the Bulldogs are firmly on the middle of the bubble heading into tonight's WCC title game.
Chris Dobbertean projects three teams from the Pac-10 with Arizona as a five seed, UCLA as an eight seed, and Washington as a ten seed. He has USC as one of the first four teams out and Washington State as one of the next four teams out. USC and WSU will have an opportunity to boost their bubble resume this week in the 2011 Pac-10 tournament. The Trojans face Cal in the quarterfinals while the Cougars face their in-state rival Washington. A USC win over Cal won't do much to boost the Trojans resume, but a Washington State victory over Washington would be a big boost for the Cougars.