Drew Timme completes NCAA bracket featuring deep Gonzaga run, opening-round losses for old WCC rivals

Mar. 20—SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time in five years, Drew Timme isn't involved in the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, Gonzaga's all-time scoring leader is following the event as a fan and enjoying the annual March rituals he couldn't always take part in as a player.

That means watching the Zags from afar and, not surprisingly, filling out a bracket that features his teammates making a run all the way to the national championship, where Timme has GU beating former assistant Tommy Lloyd and Arizona in Phoenix.

Timme was among the former college basketball stars, pro athletes and celebrities to submit a bracket to the NCAA's official March Madness account on X.

Aside from picking Gonzaga through to the national championship game, the three-time All-American forward made a few other picks that shouldn't have been too surprising.

Timme's bracket features two former West Coast Conference rivals — Saint Mary's and BYU — bowing out in the first round to lower-seeded opponents Grand Canyon and Duquesne, respectively. He also chose Colorado State to beat Texas — a team the Zags faced during his junior and senior years — in its opening-round game.

Now it's on Timme's old teammates to make sure his bracket stays intact, at least through the first weekend in Salt Lake City.

"I talked to him and he said he did (the bracket) in probably like two minutes," senior forward Anton Watson said. "He said he put BYU losing first round and Saint Mary's losing first round. He said those were the two I had to make sure. I said, 'I like that.' "

Timme has a loose connection to GU's first-round opponent in Salt Lake City. The Texan's younger brother, Walker, signed at McNeese State out of high school, but didn't play a game for the Cowboys and took a leave of absence from the program before transferring in January. Walker Timme made 14 appearances and averaged 10.4 points per game off the bench for College of Southern Idaho this season.

Some analysts and reporters who cover the sport, including ESPN's Rece Davis, the Field of 68's Rob Dauster and CBS Sports' Jerry Palm, have suggested McNeese State will spring an upset in Salt Lake City, picking the Cowboys over the Zags in their brackets.

But many of the guest celebrities who submitted guesses to the NCAA's social media platform still like Mark Few's program to extend its run of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances and potentially make another run to the Final Four.

Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler filled out a bracket that mimicked Timme's, picking the Zags to win the national title, and TV personality Jimmy Fallon has GU advancing to the national title game, but losing to UConn. Golfer Max Homa, NASCAR driver Kyle Busch and Los Angeles Rams receiver Puka Nacua each have the Zags advancing to the Sweet 16 before losing.

Two of the past three U.S. presidents are split on the Zags. Joe Biden picked McNeese State in a first-round upset, but Barack Obama picked them to beat the Cowboys before losing to Kansas.