Are you looking to know which teams will be competing for the title of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men’s college basketball champion in the 2021 tournament? The answer to that question will depend on where your college or university is placed in the NCAA bracket.
Some teams are considered favorites, while others are expected to fall short.
NCAA Bracket 2021: Mountain West
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The Mountain West Conference has been under the radar for much of the season, but it’s been a force to be reckoned with in the postseason.
Four teams have entered the NCAA Tournament, and if those four make it through, Mountain West could send four teams to Las Vegas for the MWC Championship.
The conference finished with three single-digit seeds and a top-50 NET ranking. It should have been a major turning point in the narrative, but the Midwestern Conference was wiped out of the tournament twelve hours after tipoff.
One team whose chances of making it to the NCAA Tournament are quite good is Wyoming. The Wolves earned a top-four seed after finishing with the best record in the conference.
They were 4.5-point underdogs in their first three games, but then beat Indiana 68-61 to finish the regular season with an 11-3 mark.
Another team that is a real threat to make it to the tourney is San Diego State. SDSU has the highest KenPom rank in the nation and is a top-five defensive team in the country.
West Coast Conference
If you’re a fan of college basketball, you know that the West Coast Conference has produced some of the top teams in the nation. This year could be no different.
In fact, the conference could send up to 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament. That would be a great success for any of the three leagues that comprise the WCC. But which team will earn the top spot?
Gonzaga is the clear favorite for this year’s tournament. The Bulldogs won their fifth straight national title last season and ranked first in the KenPom rankings.
BYU is the only other WCC team that has reached the WCC final in the last four years. They also qualified for the postseason as a sixth-seed. However, it’s possible that they might not make the cut.
A new format for the WCC Conference Championship will give the top two seeds a bye into the semifinals. That’s one of the most unique tournament formats we’ve seen.
American Athletic Conference
The 2020-2021 NCAA basketball season will be a crucial one for any team looking to make the cut to the Big Dance.
There are 37 at-large bids up for grabs in the field. It will be interesting to see which teams qualify.
The AAC has produced a number of outstanding student-athletes. Some of the conference’s schools include University of Connecticut, Southern Methodist University, and US Naval Academy.
Houston, the top seed in the AAC, will enter the tournament as the clear standard bearer for the conference.
The Cougars have won six straight 20-win seasons and have not missed the NCAA Tournament since 1992. However, a title would put them in position to earn a second seed.
If the team finishes fourth or fifth, it will be a tough task to gain consideration. Cincinnati, the Bearcats, and Tulane should be better than they were last year.
Wichita State, the Shockers, should be able to gain consideration by winning a few games. However, they will have to win at least four games during the next four days.
No.1 seed Baylor
Baylor was awarded the top spot in the NCAA tournament’s East Region. It’s the first time in program history that a Bears team has been a top seed.
They’ll open the tournament in Fort Worth against 16th-seeded Norfolk State. If they advance, they’ll play a winner of Arkansas and Oral Roberts on Monday. The winners of that game will go on to the Sweet 16.
The Baylor Bears were a top-20 national power a few years ago. But they’ve had a difficult time getting to the final four in the past two years.
While they’ve been in the Sweet 16, they’ve also been eliminated early in the conference tournaments.
They lost to Texas in the Big 12 tournament’s championship game. They’ve lost to Texas twice in the last three years. Now, they’re chasing back-to-back titles. That’s a tall order, though.
Baylor hasn’t made it to the Final Four in its first two appearances since 2012.
So there are a few questions about this year’s roster. For one thing, the Bears lost star player Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua. Another question is their lack of size.
Though they have the athleticism to win inside, they’re 78th in the country in rebounding.
