Written By: Matthew Conciatori
Edited By: Nabil Haider
It is that time of the year now, with the Super Bowl over, sports fans are ready to move on to one of the biggest sporting events of the year – March Madness. This season is one unlike any other, although fans will still be able to witness a national champion contrary to last year.
The NCAA has decided to switch things up this season by hosting the entire tournament in Indiana. There are four sites in Indianapolis’ “bubble” set up to host games; Bankers Life Fieldhouse (NBA Pacers’ home), Hinkle Fieldhouse (Butler), Indiana Farmers Coliseum (IUPUI) and Lucas Oil Stadium (NFL Colts’ home), which will have two courts set up.
If anything could not get any weirder, the tournament will be seeded 1 through 68 as geography will not be a factor in placement of teams. In a normal year, teams are divided into 4 divisions based on a ranking from 1 through 12. Also, the days the games will be played will be different than usual, as the event will be shifted to accommodate testing of players and coaches as they arrive in state.
Despite the unfamiliar feel of this year’s tournament, fans are still able to make their predictions along with the notorious March Madness bracket; that being said, here are the big dance’s contenders along with underdogs that may be poised for yet another Cinderella story.
Contenders
Gonzaga – 1st West Coast Conference / Best Player: Jalen Suggs (Freshman)
Currently ranked number 2 in the nation, this is a tournament ready team with little to no flaws. Any weakness identified in this team would be nitpicking the nitpick. This team has the No. 2 offense and No. 13 defense in adjusted efficiency. The Bulldogs have a wonderful blend of young talent with Jalen Suggs and seasoned flair in Corey Kispert, who also happens to be one of the best three-point shooters in the country. Nonetheless, Suggs is putting up substantial numbers for a freshman; 14.4 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 51% FG. As I said before, this Gonzaga team does not have many flaws and they are hard to find. A minor blemish is the team 3-point shooting percentage on the season of 35.3% which is statistically Mark Few’s lowest during his coaching era. Gonzaga makes up for it in other ways as they are first in college basketball in 2-point shooting. Although it is something to look out for as only Suggs and Kispert are hitting above 35% from deep.
Michigan – 1st Big Ten / Best Player: Hunter Dickinson (Freshman)
This year’s Michigan team undoubtably is not discussed enough in terms of contending for Big Ten Conference as well becoming national champions. Juwan Howard has designed an upperclassman-heavy roster that literally has everything a coach would want: A top-10 defense, a top-10 offense with a cut-throat freshman Hunter Dickinson and a potentially NBA-ready wing in Isaiah Livers. Just like other contenders on this list, it is hard to find a true flaw. Within their notable defence, it ranks in the bottom 50 nationally in steal rate and in turnover rate. To make it up for its poor turnover rate, the Wolverines boast the No. 1 defense in shooting percentage off 2-point attempts. Michigan is affective at the rim with Franz Wagner and Hunter Dickinson. Michigan has provided some great teams in the past 10-15 years whereas this team, people should be placing bets on their 12-1 odds to win the tournament.
Illinois – 2nd Big Ten / Best Player: Ayo Dosunmu (Junior)
There are many other teams such as Baylor, Ohio State or Villanova that may have been put in a contender spot, though Illinois this season may be the perfect team that could absolutely, positively destroy every team in its NCAA Tournament path. This season, they have notched some impressive wins – Duke by 15, Minnesota by 27, Northwestern by 25 although Illinois has lost some questionable ones as well. The talented Ayo Dosunmu currently averaging 21.2 PPG and 5.1 APG along with big man Kofi Cockburn putting up strong defensive numbers with 10.4 RPG and 1.4 BPG are what keeps Illinois in contention. This team’s biggest fear is being inconsistent as they must win 6 straight to win the national championship during the tournament. To assume Illinois becomes consistent in the winning column, it’ll be worth watching this team perform at its best.
Underdogs
Loyola Chicago – 1st Missouri Valley Conference / Best Player: Cameron Krutwig (Senior)
Yes! Of course, I had to add the Ramblers back after their historic Cinderella story run in 2017 and now, they are making more of a name as they are currently ranked in the top 25 nationally. After being an No. 11 seed previously and managed to pull off four straight upsets, the Ramblers will definitely have higher expectations than 2017. The short 6-foot-9 center, Cameron Krutwig, is currently averaging 61% from the floor and scoring 15.5 PPG with 6.1 RPG. Krutwig was also the only freshman starter on the 2017 team. This team is certainly remembered for their past although they are coming in this year with a bigger name with significantly more firepower.
Creighton – 2nd Big East / Best Player: Marcus Zegarowski (Junior)
As the Blue Jays are ranked 19th nationally, they are considered an underdog as the media only focuses on Villanova in the Big East although there are reasons why. Creighton has problems closing in crucial games – lost by a point to Kansas, and by five points to Marquette in the month of December. As well the game against Butler, which was an OT loss, yet still could have been an easy win for Creighton. They have a decently strong roster that will look to do some damage in the tournament. Naismith trophy nominee, Marcus Zegarowski, has 14.4 PPG with a team high 4.3 APG and a solid 76.9 FT %. The Blue Jays have other options additionally; Denzel Mahoney and Christian Bishop are consistent with their numbers as the both of them are putting up double digit points and high efficiency numbers. It truly comes down to the team as a whole and if they can close out big-game situations, if so, expect Creighton to be a true title threat.
USC – 1st PAC 12 / Best Player: Evan Mobley (Freshman)
Even though the PAC-12 has been one of the weakest conferences in recent college basketball, USC has the ability to put on a show for fans in the tournament. As many analysts have them ranked as a possible 6th seed in the tournament, they are still not talked about for the amount of versatility and defensive pressure they give to opponents. As mentioned before, the PAC-12 is a soft conference, meaning this USC team has not played any particularly strong teams yet. On paper however, they do look capable of bringing a challenge to others and causing an upset during the tournament. Their star player, Evan Mobley, the 7-foot forward is averaging 16.4 PPG, 8.9 RPG and an incredible 2.9 BPG, which can help swing the momentum in favour of the Trojans, at a moment’s notice. This team ranks 6th in opponent field goal percentage and in blocks per game, led by Mobley. Assuredly, fans should be excited to watch USC compete this year and hope they can keep up with teams outside of the PAC-12.
From the six teams discussed above, keep an eye on every one of them as they look to compete for a national championship. There will be upsets, Cinderella stories, and buzzer beaters, all of what fans truly missed the most from the yearly NCAA Tournaments.
After not having a NCAA Tournament last year due to COVID-19, players and fans are certainly thrilled this year for the annual dance. March Madness begins Thursday, March 18th with Selection Sunday at 6PM ET on March 14th.
Matthew Conciatori
2nd Year Honours Political Science
References
College hoops STORYLINES heading into the NCAA tournament. (2021, February 10). Retrieved February 13, 2021, from https://www.yardbarker.com/college_basketball/articles/college_hoops_storylines_heading_into_the_ncaa_tournament/s1__34060343#slide_1
Kyle Boone Jan 27. (2021, January 27). 2021 NCAA tournament ODDS: Finding the flaws for the top 10 national championship contenders. Retrieved February 13, 2021, from https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/2021-ncaa-tournament-odds-finding-the-flaws-for-the-top-10-national-championship-contenders/
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