Baylor Prevails in Men’s NCAA Final Four
The long-anticipated 2021 NCAA Men’s tournament contained many upset-filled and action-packed moments down the stretch like many other brackets in years past. This year’s Final Four was predicted by 0.025% of bracket entries featuring the 11 seeded UCLA Bruins, 2 seeded Houston Cougars, 1 seeded Gonzaga Bulldogs, and eventual champion 1 seeded Baylor Bears. All of these teams had slightly different paths getting to this prized stage, but none more satisfying than UCLA’s. Down 14 to Michigan State in their First Four game, the Bruins came roaring back to win 86-80 in overtime to eventually become the first team since the 2011 VCU Rams squad to advance all the way to the Final Four as a First Four team.
On April 3rd, Baylor soundly defeated the Houston Cougars 78-59 to advance to their first finals appearance since 1950 behind the defense and scoring abilities of veteran guards Davion Mitchell and Big-12 POTY Jared Butler. After this game, Gonzaga survived UCLA 93-90 in overtime on an incredible last second buzzer-beater 3-point heave from freshman guard Jalen Suggs. Drew Timme and Joel Ayayi paced the Zags with 25 and 22 respectively and UCLA sophomore guard Johnny Juzang left it all out on the court scoring 29 points in their near-upset quest. The UCLA-Gonzaga battle was one of those classic March Madness games that as basketball fans we are so welcomed to see during this fantastic tournament. In the highly anticipated tournament final, the two #1 seeds Baylor and Gonzaga faced off on April 5th. These two quality teams combined for an outstanding 58-2 record (0.967 win %) coming into the game, the highest ever combined for the tournament final. The Bears got off to a quick start showing their team versatility of leadership, speed, shooting and defending, which greatly disrupted Gonzaga’s rhythm of being in the lead this season. Baylor’s complete style of play would continue into the second half, but Gonzaga showed signs of life by cutting it down to within 11 points through 25 minutes of play. But the Bears stood their ground by further extending their impressive double-digit leads until the final whistle, leading Gonzaga on the scoreboard the entire game. Baylor had four players score double figures, most notably Jared Butler with 22, and proved many people (and bracket pickers) wrong of a Gonzaga tournament victory. The members of the 2021 March Madness All-Tournament team include UCLA’s Johnny Juzang, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme and Jalen Suggs, and Baylor’s Davion Mitchell and Jared Butler. With the National Championship victory, Baylor wins its first ever NCAA tournament in program history while spoiling Gonzaga’s hopes of having the first ever perfect season in NCAA Men’s history.