It has been 710 days since the last NCAA tournament occurred, and now it’s back! The madness begins on Thursday, March 18 with the first four games of the 2020-21 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. As millions fill out their bracket in hopes of their favorite team winning it all this year, others seek the elusive perfect bracket. As the field of 68 was released this past Sunday, some programs were happy with their seeding, and some just scratched their head.
Headlining the Field of 68 are the top seeds Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois and Michigan. After one of the strangest years ever, not many people knew who would emerge as title favorites in the 2020-2021 season, but the top seeds all proved that they deserve to be where they are. Gonzaga has a chance to become the first undefeated champion since Indiana in the 1975-1976 season.
Baylor finished off the 2019-2020 season on a rather sour note losing three of their last five games of the season. After last year’s NCAA tournament was cancelled, Baylor began their journey to their first ever Big 12 Regular season Championship.
Illinois is arguably the most dominant team in college basketball right now. After Michigan took the Big Ten regular season title, Illinois came back with a vengeance and won the Big Ten tournament, proving that they are one of the best in the nation. Illinois has one of the best one-two punches in all of America with Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu. If those two are playing for Brad Underwood’s squad, they will be a hard out.
Lastly, there is Michigan. During his second season as Head Coach, Juwan Howard has led his Wolverines to a Big 10 regular season title and a one seed in the NCAA tournament. Freshman Hunter Dickenson has been a handful for the Big 10 this year and hopes to continue his dominance into the NCAA tournament.
The latest odds for the NCAA tournament have Gonzaga as the favorite with a -210 to win the tournament, and maybe some March Madness will happen and turn this tournament on its head.