In what has been a strange year of fits and starts several teams have separated themselves in the world of college basketball. The Gonzaga Bulldogs, the Baylor Bears and the Michigan Wolverines have lost a combined 2 games with the Zags going undefeated to this point. There is a second tier of teams that are just as scary, though and maybe even more battle tested than those top 3. The Illini of Illinois, the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Alabama Crimson Tide are playing extremely well right now and have a legitimate shot at making the Final Four this season. Rankings are always a good place to start when figuring out your brackets but it should never be your only source or your go-to.
While Gonzaga has been a perennial power, fielding strong teams for over a decade now, they haven’t been able to get over the hump as far as netting Mark Few a National Title. Could 2021 be his year? All sign are pointing to the Zags being what amounts to an unstoppable force right now the drawback for me in terms of the Zags is their strength of schedule down the stretch. Gonzaga’s conference is one of the weaker in Division 1 and the out of conference schedule they, while strong, was literally last year.
There are plenty of reasons to be bullish on the Zags but also plenty of teams that are capable of making legitimate runs this season and the updated game odds for the NCAA tournament are definitely a good guide for effective wagering but this is going to be a tournament like no other, with an atmosphere that will favor experienced teams, experienced coaches and good guard play. March is here and COVID-19 or not, it will still evoke madness.
