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INDIANAPOLIS – For all the madness hubbub, for all the upheaval, for all the underdog and super-dog winners, the 2021 NCAA Men’s Tournament will end with a lot of chalk: two No.1 seeds, No.1 seed. # 2 and the group’s blacksheep, # 11 seeded UCLA.
Witness to this strange COVID-19 year, this tournament produced a Final Four with three of the top eight seeds of the event while presenting a record number of upheavals (13 wins by teams ranked five places worse than their opponent) . Seeders Gonzaga and Baylor are joined by No.2 seed Houston and, as mentioned, the Bruins, who barely squeaked in this event, even set to win a game in the top four.
UCLA’s victory over Michigan maintained a streak. This will be the eighth consecutive Men’s Final Four with a No.5 seed or less. The cumulative seeding total of 15, while historically in the high end of the Final Fours, is about the last decade average (14.8). In fact, five Final Fours since 2011 have totaled more.
The Bruins made it the third time in five years that a double-digit seed has advanced to the regional semifinals. They are only the fifth No.11 seed to advance to this point, joining LSU 1986, George Mason 2006, VCU 2011 and Loyola Chicago 2018.
But what’s so baffling is that three Noble Seeds have reached this stage after one of the most chaotic opening weekends of any tournament. UCLA’s victory over No.2 seed Alabama on Sunday night gave the event its 13th upheaval as defined by the NCAA. This tied the 2014 and 1985 tournaments at the top of the record books.
How wild had the dancing been? For only the third time in men’s tournament history, two double-digit seeds have qualified for the Elite Eight and for only the second time a No.15 seed (Oral Roberts) has reached second weekend. Oregon State, meanwhile, became only the second No.12 seed to advance to the Elite Eight. Due to the upheaval of the opening weekend, the second weekend featured some unique clashes. An 8-on-12 seed (Loyola Chicago and Oregon State) and a 3-on-15 seed (Arkansas and Oral Roberts) have met for the second time in their history.
And yet, here we are heading into the Final Four with two seeds and a No.2. How ?! Perhaps the answer lies in the aforementioned confrontations. For example, Houston became the first team to beat four double-digit seeds to reach the Final Four. Its run until this weekend included teams ranked 15th, 10th, 11th and 12th. Gonzaga hasn’t faced any team with a seed better than the No.5 (not that that would matter – see our crystal ball below).
Either way, the Final Four will produce a long-awaited national champion. Of the quartet, UCLA is the only one to have a men’s national title, the last of which came in 1995. Baylor and Gonzaga each lost once in the men’s national title game (1948 against Kentucky and 2017 against North Carolina , respectively), and Houston has lost twice, in consecutive years (1984 at Georgetown and 1983 at NC State).
Courtesy of NCAA Photos
ICYMI
SI Tuesday Daily Coverage: A Secret Sunday Tradition started by John Stockton connects Gonzaga’s past to his present. (By Greg Bishop)
South Carolina made the full statement on Tuesday, ending a strong Texas team in a defensive show of strength. (By Emma Baccellieri)
Drew Timme (and his celebrations) sparked Gonzaga early on against USC in another beautiful show by the Zags attack. (By Jeremy Woo)
Tara VanDerveer’s Stanford is in final four after rallying to beat Louisville. (By Madison Coleman)
UCLA edged Michigan in a serious and defensive affair to finish their run from the top four to the bottom four. (By Kevin Sweeney)
The best thing we have seen
If you’re a Texas fan, this probably isn’t the best thing you’ve seen. For everyone, this is at least the most amazing thing we saw on Tuesday. At the NCAA women’s tournament in San Antonio, South Carolina failed to give Texas a single point in the fourth quarter of their 62–34 Elite Eight win. That’s right – the Longhorns didn’t score any points in the last quarter. Here is the box score, which is shocking.
Crystal ball
The Gonzaga men will win it all. OK, so we’re not really on a shaky branch or anything here, but the Zags have shown in the tournament what we’ve seen all year: a dominant and efficient team on both sides of the pitch that doesn’t do that all overwrite. competition. He has won all four of his games by a total of 96 points (24 per game), with the closest victory to 16 points.
At the buzzer
An official calling the game Gonzaga-USC collapsed in the first half in a frightening moment. Bert Smith hit the pitch hard after falling backwards with no one around him. Play was stopped and he was taken off the field by a stretcher. He was awake and even smiling as officials pushed him into an area off the field. Smith had felt dizzy during the game. He was listed in stable condition as of Tuesday evening and would not need to be hospitalized.
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