Gonzaga will become the most recent undefeated NCAA March Madness champion since Indiana last did it in 1976, at least according to Andy Katz's 2021 NCAA bracket.
Katz has Gonzaga winning it all against fellow No. 1 seed Illinois. The other teams in his Final Four are No. 3 seed Texas and No. 2 seed Ohio State. Here's his complete bracket:
A Big 12 and Big Ten-heavy Elite Eight
Six of the teams that Katz projects to make the Elite Eight are from the Big 12 (Baylor, Texas and West Virginia) or Big Ten (Illinois, Iowa and Ohio State), with Gonzaga and Florida State being the other two teams slotted in to the regional finals.
In the 2019 NCAA Tournament, three conferences sent two teams to the Elite Eight – the ACC, Big Ten and SEC – with the Big 12 and WCC contributing one each. The Big 12 was the last conference to have three teams in the Elite Eight, when Kansas, Kansas State and Texas Tech made it in 2018.
Rutgers is Katz's Cinderella
The only double-digit seed that Katz projects to make the second weekend is No. 10 seed Rutgers, which will play No. 7 seed Clemson in the first round. Katz has the Scarlet Knights upsetting No. 2 seed Houston in the second round.
And here were Katz's final 2021 NCAA Tournament predictions, just hours before Selection Sunday, based on games played through Saturday, March 13.
(Tap or click here to to open the bracket in a new window.)
Here's Katz's full field of 68 seed list and his notes from his bracket:
Expect a few contingency brackets based on the Houston/Cincinnati American winner and the Colgate/Loyola-MD Patriot winner.
If Colgate wins the Patriot they would be a 14 seed, per our bracket, but if Loyola (Md) won then they would be on the 16 line.
A Cincinnati win would knock out Wichita State in the last four in.
Also, both VCU and St. Bonaventure are projected in the field, regardless of what happens in the A-10 final.
A VCU loss would put the Rams in the First Four. A VCU win would keep the Rams out of the First Four and drop Syracuse or St. Bonaventure into the First Four. Here are the seeds as we project.
1. Gonzaga (1) AQ WCC
2. Baylor (1)
3. Illinois (1) AQ BIG
4. Michigan (1)
5. Alabama (2) AQ SEC
6. Ohio State (2)
7. Iowa (2)
8. Texas (2) AQ Big 12
9. Oklahoma State (3)
10. Houston (3) AQ AAC
11. Arkansas (3)
12. West Virginia (3)
13. Kansas (4)
14. Purdue (4)
15. Florida State (4)
16. Virginia (4)
17. Texas Tech (5)
18. Villanova (5)
19. Colorado (5)
20. USC (5)
21. Oklahoma (6)
22. Oregon (6)
23. Creighton (6)
24. Tennessee (6)
25. Clemson (7)
26. Virginia Tech (7)
27. Wisconsin (7)
28. UConn (7)
29. BYU (8)
30. Missouri (8)
31. San Diego State (8) AQ MWC
32. Loyola-Chicago (8) AQ MVC
33. North Carolina (9)
34. LSU (9)
35. Georgia Tech (9) AQ ACC
36. Rutgers (9)
37. Florida (10)
38. Maryland (10)
39. Michigan State (10)
40. UCLA (10)
41. St. Bonaventure (11) AQ A10
42. Syracuse (11)
43. VCU (11)
44. Louisville (11)
45. Drake (11)
46. Oregon State (12) AQ Pac-12
47. Wichita State (12) (Cincinnati if wins AQ AAC)
48. Georgetown (12) AQ Big East
49. North Texas (12) AQ CUSA
50. Winthrop (12) AQ Big South
51. UCSB/UC Irvine (13) AQ Big West winner
52. Ohio (13) AQ MAC
53. Liberty (13) AQ ASun
54. UNCG (13) AQ SoCon
55. Morehead State (14) AQ OVC
56. Colgate (14) AQ Patriot Playing Loyola-MD Sunday)
57. Abilene Christian (14) AQ Southland
58. Eastern Washington (14) AQ Big Sky
59. Grand Canyon (15) AQ WAC
60. Iona (15) AQ MAAC
61. Cleveland State (15) AQ Horizon
62. Oral Roberts (15) AQ Summit
63. Drexel (16) AQ CAA
64. Hartford (16) AQ America East
65. Mount Saint Mary’s (16) AQ NEC
66. Appalachian State (16) AQ Sun Belt
67. Texas Southern (16) AQ SWAC
68. Norfolk State (16) AQ MEAC
First four out: Utah State, Colorado State, Memphis, Ole Miss
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Here's the schedule for this season's tournament:
