Gaels Are a No. 5 Seed in NCAA Tournament. For the First Time Ever, SMC Has Earned that Distinction Three Years in a Row.

The 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket has been set, and for the third consecutive year, your Saint Mary's Gaels (26–7) sit as a five seed. As Coach Randy Bennett noted to reporters on Sunday, this is the first time in program history that Saint Mary’s has been invited to the Big Dance three years in a row.

The Gaels won 26 games this season, including 23 of their final 25 en route to both a regular season and postseason West Coast Conference Title. Saint Mary's will have the luxury of not having to travel too far this year either, as they will play their first matchup of the tournament in Spokane, Washington, one of the closest regional sights to the Saint Mary's Campus. 

The Gaels’ opponent in the opening round will be the 12th-seeded Grand Canyon Antelopes (29–4), who will be making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, and their second in as many years. Also playing in Spokane in the West Region will be the fourth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide (21–11) and the Charleston Cougars (27–7).

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Selection Sunday Celebration

The Selection Sunday broadcast on CBS on March 17 revealed the 64 teams in the NCAA Tournament, how they were seeded, and where they would be playing. In the runup to the Sunday broadcast, former Villanova coach and CBS analyst Jay Wright singled out Saint Mary’s as one to keep an eye on. “They were dominant in their Championship game in the West Coast Conference,” he assessed. Indeed, Saint Mary’s closed out the WCC Tournament with a hard-fought victory over Gonzaga, a game in which the Gaels showed the kind of play, drive, and constant improvement that had sustained the longest winning streak of any men’s basketball team in the country this season.

The Saint Mary’s community was invited to watch the big reveal on the big screen in the UCU Pavilion. The event featured the Saint Mary’s Sports Band and the Spirit Team. Fans young and old from throughout the Bay Area turned out for both the broadcast and a special autograph session with the WCC Champion Gaels. That included WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis (an accolade that received coverage from California to Lithuania) and WCC Defensive Player of the Year Mitchell Saxen, WCC Coach of the Year Randy Bennett, and All-WCC First Team members Aidan Mahaney and Alex Ducahttps://www.stmarys-ca.edu/news/gaels-best-zags-win-west-coast-conference-tournaments.

Get Your Tickets for the NCAA Tourney

Gaels fans can request up to four tickets for both the first and second rounds being played in Spokane on Friday, March 22, and Sunday, March 24. To put in your request, complete this form before 8 a.m. on Wednesday, March 20. 

Please note: Completing the request form is not a guarantee of tickets. Tickets will be assigned based on donor level. When you are assigned tickets, you are obligated to purchase the same number of tickets for any First Round tournament game the Gaels play and the Second Round game should the Gaels advance.  All sales are final, no refunds or exchanges. Tickets to all games will be sent electronically from the host site 12 to 24 hours prior to tip-off to the email entered on the ticket request form.

Saint Mary’s will be hosting a watch party for students on campus on Friday. And the Saint Mary’s Alumni Association will be hosting watch parties throughout the country. Watch for more information in the days to come.

Selection Sunday Slideshow

Photos by Bryan Navarro