NCAA- “A perfect season is on the line in Monday night’s men’s NCAA Tournament championship game.”
The following written content by Scott Gleeson
INDIANAPOLIS — A perfect season is on the line in Monday night’s men’s NCAA Tournament championship game.
Not since 1976, when Bob Knight’s Indiana team went 32-0, has a Division I men’s college basketball team finished unbeaten. Following its buzzer-beating Final Four win over UCLA, 31-0 Gonzaga has a chance to make history.
Standing in the way is a worthy opponent and national title favorite in its own right – Baylor. The No. 1 seeded Bears (27-2) thrashed Houston in Saturday’s early Final Four game and have what it takes to spoil the Zags’ perfect season.
“The level of skill they possess, the way they shoot the ball, they play off each other so well. They’re complete,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few told reporters Sunday.
A look at why an upset is in store:
1. Baylor is peaking at the right time
Baylor fell out of rhythm in February, with three games canceled and three postponed because of COVID-19. Had that not happened, we could have two undefeated teams. Baylor’s two losses are deceiving in that light.
It’s fair to say Baylor played OK in its first three NCAA Tournament games, but we finally saw what a full-throttle Bears team looked like Saturday vs. Houston. When coach Scott Drew’s team is firing from beyond the arc, it’s hard to counter. The Bears lead the nation in three-point shooting, and it’s not just All-American Jared Butler doing the damage. Davion Mitchell and MaCio Teague are deadly from deep, while Adam Flagler and Matthew Mayer also contribute. More than that, this is a stifling defensive team. Houston’s nation-leading defense was hyped before Saturday, but we saw Baylor look more dominant on the defensive end, forcing turnovers and slowing the Cougars’ halfcourt offense.
“They’re very handsy on defense, and they make the right reads and switches,” Few said.
2. Gonzaga recovering from UCLA game
While one school of thought is that Gonzaga finally got tested in its down-to-the-wire win over UCLA, another is that Baylor has been battle-tested more by playing in the Big 12 Conference. The Bears won 13 games against opponents ranked in the top-30 of NET since January. Gonzaga played five. The Bulldogs’ scoring margin is 22.5, while the Bears’ margin is 17.5. The type of game the Zags got against UCLA is what Baylor experienced against Kansas, West Virginia, Texas and Oklahoma State. Read more from USA Today.
