Gonzaga’s Run Ends
So close. Just 40 minutes away from making history and going down as one of the greatest teams ever. Instead, Baylor out everything-ed the Gonzaga Bulldogs during Monday Night’s national championship game and swiped their chance for a perfect season.
Gonzaga experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in a matter of 48 hours. Jalen Suggs’ 3 pointer at the end of overtime against UCLA might go down as one of the greatest tournament shots ever, but that will not be what this Gonzaga team is remembered for. Instead, they will be remembered as the team that almost did- almost became the first undefeated National Champion since Indiana in 1976.
Baylor deserved to win the National Championship Game, but do not forget about the 2020-2021 Gonzaga team. They won 31 straight games, 29 of them by double digits, and set the record for highest two point shooting percentage over a season. They had three players on the first two all american teams. Suggs and Kispert will likely both be lottery picks. So even though Gonzaga did not come out on top, do not forget how dominant this Gonzaga team really was.
Tournament Recap
Basketball fans were desperate for the 2021 NCAA Tournament after missing it for a year, and it sure delivered. Indiana, the basketball capital of the world, managed to pull it off with only one canceled game. There was a record number of upsets in this tournament, but all felt right when the finals was a meeting between the teams that were ranked one and two the entire season.
The Big 10 dominated the regular season and despite having four teams with a one or two seed, failed to send a team to the final four. The Big 12, the second best conference this season, looked like they might be going down a similar path when they only had one team left in the Sweet Sixteen; however, Baylor then proceeded to go and win the natty, giving the conference their first national champion since Kansas in 2008. The Pac 12, who most thought of as an afterthought, had the best showing by any conference. They had five teams left in the Sweet 16 and were represented in the Final Four because of UCLA’s unlikely run. It is hard to know how good each conference really was because of the lack of non conference games, but the tournament really changed the narrative that was being written about many of these conferences.
Major Storylines of the Season:
While this tournament will be remembered for all the upsets and Baylor’s dominant win, don’t forget some of these major storylines from the season.
Ayo Dosunmu returned for his junior season at Illinois and lit the college basketball world on fire. Nothing could stop him this season, not even a broken nose. He played with a mask for the second half of the season for his broken nose, and looked like a superhero on the court. Dosunmu averaged 20 points a game and was clutch during the end of games. Without him there is no way Illinois would have 12 quad 1 wins (most in the country before the tournament), won the Big 10 tournament, and landed a number one seed. Although Illinois and Dosunmu’s season ended in disappointment fashion during the first weekend, don’t forget about how good they were at the end of the season coming down the stretch.
Luka Garza went out in style his senior year. Garza averaged 24 points a game, helping earn him both the Wooden and Naismith player of the year award. During his senior ceremony Iowa announced they would be retiring his number, which put Garza in tears. Regardless of how Garza’s NBA career turns out, he will be remembered as one of Iowa’s greatest players ever.
From being picked to finish last in the Pac 12 to making the Elite Eight, Oregon State had a hell of season. Beaver Fever had an amazing run that included them winning six straight elimination games no one expected them to win. Their coach, Wayne Tinkle, entered the season on the hot seat and came out of it with a huge contract extension.
Cade Cuningham entered Oklahoma State as the top prospect of his freshman class and is still leaving at the number one spot, and will likely be the top pick in this year’s NBA draft. Oklahoma State was quiet in the first half of the season but in the second half racked up 12 Quad 1 wins (tied for most with Illinois) and was one of only two teams the entire season to take down Baylor. Oklahoma State was really fun to watch and during that second half of the season looked so good. The Oklahoma State tournament team did not look like the one that we had been seeing and because of this their time in Indy lasted only one weekend.
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