(Image courtesy of Dallas Morning News)
March Madness is one of America's most prized traditions in sports. It is always a fun experience to make a bracket and compete against your friends to see who is the most accurate. This year’s tournament was so different due to the COVID-19 outbreak still affecting the country after a year.
Regardless, March Madness was still fun as ever, with thrilling upsets and all-time classic moments. After four weeks of tournament play, it was the Baylor Bears who came away with the national title, defeating the number one ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs 86-70.
From 1989-2007, the Baylor Bears were an afterthought. Blue blood programs like Duke and North Carolina were dominating year after year, while Baylor sat and in mediocrity. In 2003, after a murder scandal broke out in the program and former coach Dave Bliss was forced to resign, Scott Drew took over as head coach. Success did not happen instantly, as it took five years for Baylor to make the NCAA tournament, but soon after that, the Bears began to have more success on the court.
In 2010, the Bears truly started to break out. Despite major roster losses, the Bears finished second in the Big 12 conference and made the NCAA tournament as a three seed before falling to eventual national champion Duke. This loss was painful, but due to excellent coaching by Drew, everyone knew that the Bears would be back. After another deep tournament run by Baylor in 2012, Baylor would make the tournament in five of the next six years, even earning their first number one ranking in program history in 2017.
Despite Drews Bears remaining a competitive team in the Big 12, they had never finished first in their conference. The Bears were always in the shadow of the famed blue blood Kansas Jayhawks, but the Bears were on the rise. In 2020, Baylor ended the year at 26-4, ending the season ranked number five in the country. Although the COVID-19 outbreak ended the season early, the Bears prepared over the offseason and were picked to win the Big 12 for the 2021 season.
Baylor did not start the season easily. Despite starting 3-0 with a signature win over fifth-ranked Illinois, three of their first six games were canceled due to COVID-19 issues. Baylor would soon go on a dominant win streak, led by Jared Butler, MaCio Teague, and Davion Mitchell to have an 18-0 start. Despite playing in one of the toughest conferences in the nation, and winning mostly every game in dominating fashion, the Bears were still underdogs. Gonzaga was the number one team in the nation and was predicted to finish the season undefeated.
After a COVID-19 pause, Baylor finally suffered their first loss of the season. Kansas managed to get the best of them 71-58, but Baylor would soon get back on track to finish the year 21-1. Not only did Baylor finish with such an impeccable record, but they won the Big 12 regular-season title for the first time. Despite a loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament, Scott Drew had done the unthinkable. He made Baylor a contender, earning their first number one seed in the NCAA tournament in program history.
As the NCAA tournament came, Baylor stomped through their competition. The Bears crushed their first three opponents and despite a poor shooting night against Villanova, they still won by double digits 62-51. Baylor would meet Arkansas in the regional final with a trip to the final four on the line. Baylor started strong, and despite Arkansas keeping it competitive, it was Baylor who would prevail 81-72 reaching their first final four since 1950.
After a dominant win against Houston in the national semifinal, Baylor was once again an afterthought. Gonzaga just defeated UCLA in their side of the bracket to stay undefeated at 31-0 on an epic half-court game-winner by Jalen Suggs. After a dominant regular season, Baylor would truly be an underdog for the first time of the season in a matchup of the two best teams in the nation. It was a fight for which program would win their first national championship and between two talented coaches who had built their programs from the ground up. The championship game was set to be an all-time classic, but it wasn’t.
From start to finish, it was a blowout. Baylor dominated from start to finish, never letting Gonzaga getting within nine points. Baylor had once again proven, that a consistently tough schedule keeps a team sharp and ready to beat the best of the best. Baylor defeated Gonzaga 86-70, ending Gonzaga’s undefeated season while Baylor would bask in their glory with All American Jared Butler earing the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player award.
With the COVID-19 outbreak heavily regulating the season, Baylor was pound for pound the best team all year. They missed ten games because of COVID issues in the program, but they managed to stay composed and only lose two games the entire year. Scott Drew has done it, he has taken a program that was in the midst of a murder scandal in 2003 and only had seven scholarship players in 2005, to winning the national championship game. For years to come, everyone will remember this season and how so many teams had missed their games while the Baylor Bears came out on top and are now National Champions.