March Madness Bracket 2021: Beginning Predicted, Final Four Pick in West Zone

NCAA Tournament Bracket Pix: West Region

Best story

Can the Jags be undefeated? What Gonzaga achieved in the 2020–21 regular season was probably praised by less, much less so, with only four other teams having worked in the last 44 years. To think about that. At least 250 teams competed in Division I basketball over that period. They are 11,000 teams. Of those, only four entered the NCAA tournament with perfect records. I tried to do the math about what percentage teams are, but it is beyond my limited ability to understand that there are too many zeroes to the right of the decimal point. Now, the Zags tried to win one such jewel by bringing the best team in collegium basketball to Indianapolis, ousting Gonzaga as he made himself from the lucrative mid-major to the National Power: NCAA Championships. He never had a better chance.

All-region team

Best first round game

No. 5 Crayton vs. No. 12 UC Santa Barbara. If your team’s nickname is as cool as “Gauchos”, then you deserve to be mentioned somewhere. UCSB has lost only once since New Year’s Day, and although there was a very good kicking by UC Riverside, it came on the second day of the back-to-back series. It is not easy to pounce on them, and the Gauchos did it seven times after the holidays. He then went on to win three consecutive double-digit wins at the Big West Championship. Creighton was nationwide for the Big East tournament, and the Bluejays, with their electric offense, seemed destined for their first title until Georgetown woke up and made the 1985 decision. It has the potential to be one of those 12–5 matchbox compelers make the tournament what it is.

MORE MARCH MADNESS: TV Schedule | Printable bracket | Difference

Seed too much

No. 11 Wichita State. When I predicted that this would happen, I might be curious to criticize his inclusion, but I called the Oscar win for “Forrest Gump”, and that didn’t make any more reasonable choices on “Pulp Fiction”. The Shockers defeated two teams that were in the net top 100. Not one of them made the tournament. Therefore their inclusion is almost entirely based on a road win over Houston. In the American Athletic Conference tournament, the Shockers barely survived a hapless USF team and then opened the door for a -500-ish Cincinnati team to reach the finals of a fourth consecutive league tournament. Is it NCAA eligible? The people on the committee would have really liked “Ted Lasso”.

Seed too low

Number 9 Missouri. If Clemson is the No. 41 net ranking, the No. 42 KenPom ranking, a 3-6 record against Quad 1 opponents, a 10-6 record against Quad 1 and the No. 7 seed with a combined 2 and Quad 3 losses. Then what would you do with the Missouri squad that ranked No. 47 in the net and No. 51 in KenPom, 7-6 against Quad 1 and 9-9 against Quad 1 and 2, and any defeats outside of the first two quadrants. Was not it? This is largely the same, especially when you beat Clemson to No. 2 seed Alabama in non-league play and Missouri has defeated No. 1 seed Illinois. So how did the committee squeeze the two seed lines between them, amid Mizou’s apparent ban?

Upset special

No. 6 USC at No. 3 Kansas. It may surprise people to see the best player on the floor wearing a Trojan uniform: All-America big man Evan Mobley. USC has recently leveled, without fault. It needed overtime to defeat struggling Utah in the first round of the Pac 12 tournament and then lost to a basket in Colorado, but scored 26 runs in each of those games. USC would have to perform better on defense to avoid a 4-4 record in the last eight games, but the Trojans could ride Mule to victory.

MORE: Kansas, Virginia Will Play in NCAA Tournament?

Best possible game

No. 3 Kansas vs. No. 2 Iowa. Remember when the jaywalkers were lumped into all those “struggling blue blood” articles and conversations? This was never appropriate for Kansas, which was relevant even after losing five times in seven matches, which dropped their record to 12-7. (But KU was unveiled! Oh, humanity!) They have been absolutely lost since once. It helped that Stretcher had two games against Iowa State and one game against Kansas State, but also had a win over Boiler, which only one other Division I program can match. Iowa was simply the fourth-best team in its conference, even if it was one of the nation’s six or seven best teams. Seeing KU try to protect Luca Garza can be a masterclass in defensive strategy.

MORE: Garza reprized as SN Player of the Year

Best possible player matchup

Chris Duterte, guard, Oregon, Joe Josemp, guard, Iowa. Duterte scored 16.7 points and 43 percentage points for the Pac-12 regular-season championship winning team and for this he paid almost no attention outside the Pacific time zone. He was named League of the Year by the Associated Press, but Ivan Moody, the league’s coach and media’s official vote. Duterte is a sleek, elusive guard who is excellent shooting from the bounce and finishes beautifully in traffic. Wieskamp is an off-the-catch shooter who, if he puts the ball down to drive, is likely to slash an opponent’s throat.

Learn

Ohio’s host guard Jason Preston. He played hard for his high school team and planned to go to college like no other, studied in journalism and played pickup ball for fun and conditioning. He played some AAU ball, however, started playing well, and got the opportunity to get enough attention to go to school and see if college basketball programs could see anything, too. After putting together some highlights, a friend posted them on Twitter. Two scholarship offers came as a result and Preston chose OU. He now averages 16.6 points and 6.8 rebounds and has scored a combined 49 points in the MAC tournament wins over Toledo and Buffalo. Bobcats coach Jeff Bowles told NCAA.com, “Their path is not the normal path, or what most people have gone through.”

Field Construction:
East | South | MIDWEST

Do not be surprised if. . .

The No. 15 Grand Canyon hangs around for a while with No. 2 Iowa. The size of the post to deal with Luca Garza at the Grand Canyon is: 7-footballer Asbourne Midtgard, who averaged 14 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks this season. The Hawkeyes had no doubt that an early opponent could be preferred with Garza, but GCU physically played with another big, 6-10 Alessandro Lever, producing 13.3 points and 5.4 rebounds. The Grand Canyon may not be a big-time event, but it is a big team.

Sleeper team

Ohio University. One can imagine that Illinois was happy to see Bobcett on the opposite side of the bracket. When they played over Thanksgiving weekend, OU lost by a single basket – and Illinois had to rally below three points in the final 100 seconds to escape. Preston had scored 31 points that day, with Dosamu getting 27. He has been able to upset Virginia – which stands as the defending champion – two years after celebrating his championship in Minneapolis.

Last four pick

Gonzaga. The draw is not difficult. The Zags have already played teams on Seeds 2, 3 and 4 and beat them by a combined 46 points. It is like an open invitation. All Zags must win four games to RSVP. Okay, so remembering to mail back the small card is not as easy as remembering.