BY: SOME GUY NAMED STEVE
The long wait is finally over. The National Championship has arrived, and after all of the upsets and chaos, the two best teams all year long have prevailed. The Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Baylor Bears have been ranked No. 1 and No. 2 for almost the entirety of the year and will now get a chance to show the world which of the two teams is the best.
How’d they get here
Gonzaga: Gonzaga was the No. 1 team all year and the only undefeated team in college basketball. The Bulldogs were dominant all season long, winning every game by double digits except one heading into the tournament. Gonzaga opened up the NCAA tournament with a dominant 98-55 win over No. 16 seed Norfolk State. The Bulldogs followed that up with convincing wins over No. 8 seed Oklahoma (87-71), No. 5 seed Creighton (83-65), and No. 6 seed USC (85-66) on their way to the final four. After a cakewalk start to the NCAA tournament, Gonzaga’s final four matchup vs. UCLA was the exact opposite. The Bruins gave Gonzaga everything they had and never allowed the Bulldogs to pull away. The game stayed within ten points the entire way, and Gonzaga had to make some huge plays down the stretch to avoid a monumental upset. A half-court buzzer-beater by Jalen Suggs in overtime gave Gonzaga the 93-90 victory in one of the best games all year long.
Baylor: Much like Gonzaga, Baylor was dominant for the majority of the season. The Bears started the year 18-0 and only slowed down slightly because of a COVID-19 pause. However, once the NCAA tournament started, Baylor looked to be as dominant as it was at the start of the season. The Bears started the tournament with easy wins over No. 16 seed Hartford (79-55) and No. 9 seed Wisconsin (76-63). The sweet sixteen matchup against No. 5 seed Villanova was the game that gave the Bears the most trouble as they found themselves trailing by seven at the half. Baylor overcame this deficit and outscored Villanova 39-21 in the second half to win another game by double digits. Baylor then beat Arkansas 81-72 in a game where the Bears controlled from start to finish despite a few late runs by Arkansas. Baylor’s final four match-up vs. Houston might have been the Bears’ most impressive outing as they defeated the Cougars 78-59 in a game that was a blowout from the start.
How do they Match-up?
Gonzaga and Baylor are both elite in almost every important offensive statistical category, to no one’s surprise. According to Kenpom, Gonzaga ranks first overall, and Baylor ranks second. Gonzaga has the highest-scoring offense (91.6ppg), while Baylor has the 4th highest (82.8ppg). Gonzaga shoots the ball at 55.0% from the floor (best in NCAA), and Baylor shoots the ball at 48.8% (12th best). Baylor shoots the three-pointer better than anyone in the country at 41.2%, while Gonzaga doesn’t rank far behind at 37.0% (41st). Both teams are very efficient with the ball and can score at will.
On the defensive side both teams also rank very highly. Gonzaga has the 8th best defensive efficiency while Baylor has the 27th best. Baylor forces the 7th most turnovers in the country (17.1) but Gonzaga also forces its opponents into mistakes with 14.6 turnovers forced a game (66th). Despite playing tough schedules both Gonzaga and Baylor have held opponents to under 43% from the field and under 33% from three point range.
There’s really nothing else to say about these teams on paper. Gonzaga and Baylor rank highly for all of the categories that a championship team should rank highly in. There is no significant edge with the numbers. Both teams have elite offenses that are almost impossible to stop with defenses that will test their opponents all night.
Star Power
The amount of college stars in this game is almost overwhelming. On Gonzaga’s side, you have the “Big 3” of Corey Kispert, Drew Timme, and Suggs. I don’t know of anyone that has had as good of a tournament as Timme. He is averaging 22 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in the tournament and has dominated the interior against whoever he plays. Timme has become a college basketball icon with his handlebar mustache and emotional celebrations after converting “and one’s.” Suggs has also had a very good tournament. Since the sweet sixteen, the future NBA lottery pick is averaging 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and shooting over 50% from the floor. The do-it-all guard is “doing it all” for Gonzaga.
Baylor also has its own stars with the trio of guards, Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler, and MaCio Teague. The best of the bunch has been Mitchell who has skyrocketed up NBA draft boards since the tournament started. He has scored in double figures in every single tournament game while still being a facilitator for the Baylor Bears offense. His has a team-high 30 assists in the tournament and has only turned the ball over seven times in five games. Mitchell has also shot 50% or better from the floor in every tournament game except one. Besides Mitchell, Baylor has gotten great production from Butler and Teague who have combined for 128 points (25.6ppg) and 19 three-pointers in the tournament.
Prediction
Before the tournament started, I predicted that Gonzaga vs. Baylor would be the finals match-up and that Gonzaga would win it all. As impressive as Baylor has looked this tournament, I still cannot force myself to pick against the Bulldogs. I am rooting for history in this game and for Gonzaga to become the first undefeated national champion since Indiana in 1975-76. After Suggs hit the buzzer-beater against UCLA, I was convinced that this Gonzaga team is the team of destiny, and head coach Mark Few will get his first ever (and well deserved) national championship. However, don’t expect it to be easy. Baylor will give Gonzaga everything it has and more, and we should be treated to one phenomenal national championship game!
Final Score: Gonzaga 82 Baylor 74
For live updates and breaking news, follow Trainwreck Sports, Crossing Swords or 2 Goalies 1 Mic on Twitter or subscribe to our YouTube channel
The Sports Desk can be reached at editorialtrainwrecksports@gmail.com