The 2021 Men’s Division 1 Basketball Tournament has concluded, and it was a tournament to remember. I will break down the Final Four and National Championship, as well as the Final Four and title game for the women’s event. Let’s start off with the Women, just to change it up a bit. The #3 Arizona Wildcats played #1 UCONN Huskies.
Arizona shocked the world by beating the powerhouse Huskies, 69-59. The Wildcats also made their first Final Four and first championship in school history.
Then it was the battle of #1’s, Stanford Cardinal vs. the 2017 champ South Carolina Gamecocks. The Cardinal won a nail-biter, 66-65 to reach the title game against Arizona. In the Championship, the game was very entertaining. Stanford held Arizona to only 8 first-quarter points. They held a 31-24 lead at halftime. In the 4th quarter, with Stanford leading by 1 point, Arizona caused the ball to go out of bounds off of Stanford, then called timeout.
They gave the ball to Team Captain Aarion McDonald, who took a deep fadeaway instead of passing to an open teammate. The ball hit the back of the rim, and Stanford was the National Champion for the first time since 1992. The Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player honor went to Haley Jones. Coach Tara VanDerveer won her 3rd title, all with the Cardinal.
Now, let’s dive into the men’s tournament.
The first game was The Battle of Texas, #2 Houston Cougars vs. #1 Baylor Bears. Baylor trounced Houston 78-59 to reach the Championship game. Then it was #11 UCLA Bruins vs. #1 Gonzaga Bulldogs.The game went to overtime. With the Bulldogs leading 90-88 with seconds left in overtime, Bruins star Johnny Juzang went up for a floater and missed, but got his own rebound and tied the game. Instead of using their final timeout,Gonzaga went down the court and passed it to Jalen Suggs, who chucked it up from half-court………and made it!!!!!!! Gonzaga won 93-90 to remain undefeated.
In the Championship game, however, the Baylor Bears ruined Gonzaga’s perfect season by slaughtering them 86-70 to win their first national title in school history, and only second in Texas history. You’ve gotta hand it to Gonzaga, though. They had a heck of a season, and although they couldn’t complete the perfect season, they still did very well. Indiana still holds the record as the last undefeated champion, doing it in 1976.
So, that’s it for the 2021 March Madness Tournament! It was an unforgettable event like no other I have ever seen. I enjoyed everything about it.
