Cincinnati Bearcats mentioned in ESPN's first bracketology for upcoming season

ESPN's Joe Lunardi has released his first bracketology projections for the upcoming 2027-28 college basketball season, and the Cincinnati Bearcats were mentioned among the "first four out" in the new 76-team field.

The top overall seed at the moment belongs to the Florida Gators, while Big 12 counterpart Oklahoma State is mentioned as the last team in, and LSU is the first team out. The other three top seeds are given to the Duke Blue Devils, the Michigan Wolverines, and the Illinois Fighting Illini.

To go along with LSU, Lunardi also names Maryland, Cincinnati, and West Virginia as the first four teams to miss the tournament. He also mentions Florida State, Mississippi State, Utah State, and Virginia Tech in the "next four out." All of these teams fall ranked from No. 77-84, the 8 teams that were closest to making it.

As far as "last four byes" goes, Texas A&M, Creighton, NC State, and Ohio State are all in the tournament as the last teams to skip the expanded opening round. The last teams to make the tournament and who will be playing in the expanded opening round are Marquette, Arizona State, Clemson, and Oklahoma State.

If you break it down by conference in Lunardi's bracketology, the Big Ten and SEC both have 12 teams in the tournament, with the Big 12 having 10 teams. The ACC and Big East both have 7 teams in the tournament, while the Atlantic 10, the West Coast Conference, and the ASUN are all multi-bid leagues with 2 teams.

All of these rankings are subjective, as none of these teams have played in even an exhibition event. They are going to change a ton until the start of the season in November. Jerrod Calhoun has built a winning roster for Cincinnati this year, and its starting to show.

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