We Have "Arrived" in Indianapolis

From Shock to Chalk

    Good afternoon everyone! It's been a bit since I last posted, wrapping up the second weekend of March Madness during my hiatus. With the final four commencing in just over an hour, it's time to reflect on how we got here and look ahead toward the future and see who could potentially be cutting down the nets on Monday night.

Sweet 16/Elite 8 Recap

    To put it nicely, my predictions weren't particularly accurate. The bottom two regions I had predicted completely wrong, anticipating Florida State, Alabama, Loyola Chicago, and Syracuse to all reach the Elite 8. I was never high on Michigan, so it didn't surprise me that they lost to whoever came out of Alabama vs UCLA, which happened to be the 11th-seeded Bruins. In other regions, Oral Roberts came oh so close to being the first ever 15-seed to reach the Elite 8, and Oregon State were almost the first 12-seed to get to the Final Four before falling flat in the last few minutes against Houston. I think for the most part, however, the second weekend was understandably relatively chalk due to the volatility of the first weekend. This is why we were so close to having three one seeds and a two seed in the final four, but the Wolverines could not make a shot to win the game.

Final Four Predictions

    My prediction is going to be pretty boring here, but I don't see how we don't arrive with a Gonzaga vs Baylor championship game when it's all said and done. Neither UCLA or Houston were exactly strong in their Elite 8 matchups, however the Bruins at least showed off some impressive defense. The Cougars have yet to play a team seeded better than 10th-seeded Rutgers, so the star-studded guards of Baylor will most likely be a wakeup call that Houston will not be prepared for. Expect the Bears to come out on top by double digits and cover the spread. Gonzaga may start off a bit slow against UCLA, but they have looked every bit the best team in the nation in this tournament. They should win by a sizable margin but might not cover the 14.5 point spread. 

For the finals between Gonzaga and Baylor, it'll be a matchup that we've been wanting to see ever since it got cancelled in early December. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the electrifying play of Baylor's guards will overpower the Zags, stopping Mark Few's squad one game short of a championship. As hard as it is to bet against the Bulldogs, I just don't see a team completing a perfect season in this era of basketball. Baylor have found their form after the COVID pause and if any team are to unseat perfect Gonzaga, it'll be the Bears.