2021- Baylor

After what felt like a lifetime (in actuality it was 710 days), the madness returned in 2021 albeit with different circumstances. The 2021 Tournament was housed in a bubble in Indianapolis with no crowds or fanfare and the ever looming threat of COVID outbreaks leaking in. The tournament went off without a hitch, unless you were a VCU fan as they were the only team to have their bracket busted by COVID.

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They say life imitates art, and the craziness in the outside world crept into the court as the 2021 edition was filled with many upsets and unpredictable turns. At least one 9-15 seed made the Second Round, Oral Roberts made the Sweet 16 (and nearly the Elite Eight), the Oregon St Beavers chomped their way to a Regional Final and that little known basketball school UCLA made it to the Final Four as a 11 seed. 1 Seeds Gonzaga and Baylor along with 2 seed Houston survived the madness and chalked their way to the Final Four.

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Baylor decimated Houston and showed a preview of what was to come, while undefeated Gonzaga beat UCLA in one of the best NCAA Tournament Games of all time capped off with a Jalen Suggs buzzer beater from nearly half court to keep the perfect season alive. The Bulldogs were 31-0 at this point and many believed that Zaga would finally win the big one. However Baylor came out the gate flying going grabbing a 19 point lead in the first half stopping all the momentum from Suggs miracle shot. The Bears cruised the rest of the way winning 86-70 to their first National Championship and Gonzaga’s perfect season was relinquished.