2021 NCAA Tournament National Championship Preview

National Championship consisted of the top 2 overall seeds and the preseason number 1 and 2 teams. One team, unbeaten, maybe the greatest college basketball team we’ve ever seen. The other? The only team that was believed to be able to compete with the unbeaten. Gonzaga and Baylor have combined for only eight losses since the beginning of the 2019 season. 728 days since our last national championship game. One team will be lifting the national championship trophy at Lucas Oil Stadium and the other will be left coming up short. Can anything top what happened on Saturday night?

(1) Gonzaga vs (1) Baylor

Game Lines: Gonzaga -4.5 O/U 159.5

What else is there to say about these two teams? The preseason number 1 and number 2 teams in the country. For the fifth time ever, the preseason 1 and 2 will be meeting in the title game. Baylor blew right past Houston in the Final Four Semifinal shooting lights out from the field and playing an overall dominant performance. Gonzaga had a miraculous shot from half- court in OT against a double-digit seed UCLA team for only their second single-digit victory this season. Can Gonzaga be the second-ever undefeated team in NCAA history?

It is an open book on what Gonzaga is and who they have. Freshman Jalen Suggs is the point guard leader and playmaker with all the highlights. He used a half-court banked shot to send them to this title game. He is alongside All-Americans Drew Timme and Corey Kispert who are

dominant in their own right. This Gonzaga team has only been held to under 70 points three times all year and is the number one team in two-point field goals this year. The only thing that isn’t an open book for Gonzaga is how to beat them. UCLA came as close as any team has gotten all year and all they had to do was score 90 points, shooting 58% from the field, 47% from the three-point line, have a guy score 29 points, and still lose on a heartbreaking buzzer- beater. So, can Baylor win this national championship game and upset the Gonzaga Bulldogs?

Baylor is the number one three-point shooting team in the country this year. The three leading guards have been talked about a lot throughout the year and deservedly so. Jared Butler will need to play like the first-round pick he is and how he played on Saturday. It is very simple what the Baylor Bears need to do, that is knock down the three-point shot at a high rate and slow down Drew Timme. Baylor has shown that they can be a very good defensive team this year, but they haven’t played a team like Gonzaga this year and when you’re playing a squad of that caliber, you almost have to be perfect.

Mark Few looking to break through in the NCAA tournament finally with a national championship after coming up short in 2017. Baylor back to the national championship for the first time since 1948. Jalen Suggs. Jared Butler. Number 1. Number 2. National Championship. What will happen?

Prediction: I have thought all year that it didn’t matter that Gonzaga played no one in conference play, they would run through the regular season and win the national title. I don’t believe that changes now. Gonzaga had their scare against UCLA on Saturday and that might be the one time that they would be beaten this year. Gonzaga will win this game and although Baylor stays pretty competitive in this one throughout, they will never be able to take control of this game and get past Gonzaga. Gonzaga by double digits and complete the undefeated season.