It's been a busy week, so even though I started writing this blog post on Wednesday, it's not getting finished until shortly before the Final Four begins. One change in today's blog: the Magic Spreadsheet moves from the top of the post to the bottom. We have a winner in one of the pools and the other one is all but decided, so we'll leave the congratulations until the end.
The West region was up first on Tuesday night and it was time to see how powerful the PAC-12 juggernaut truly was. USC had crushed their first three opponents in this year's tourney, but so had Gonzaga. In fact, the Zags had been doing it all season long. The analysts on TV certainly seemed to believe that USC was a formidable foe for Gonzaga and not the team that needed two overtimes to beat Utah in the PAC-12 quarterfinals just a couple of weeks ago. To put it nicely, the Trojans did not get off to a good start in this one. They turned the ball over a few times, allowing Gonzaga a quick 7-0 lead and once again, a Gonzaga game felt like it was over really early on. USC came into the game as one of the top defensive units in the country, leading the nation in blocks. They would record zero blocks in this game. They only managed 1 turnover in the first half, while giving up 49 points to the Zags as USC headed to the locker room down by 19 after 20 minutes of play. There was no drama in the second half as Gonzaga seems to know how to hold on to a cushion without expending too much energy. Sir Charles probably put it best after the game when he said the following (paraphrased): "Gonzaga doesn't play at 100 mph. They play at 65 mph. They keep the game at that speed and they know no one can beat them at that speed." It's true. The Zags never seem to be stressed while they play the game. They go about their business and dominate. It's methodical and ruthless. And it was good enough to earn them a trip to the Final Four. The West region champs remain undefeated after dismantling USC by a score of 85-66.
Hope you got your offensive fix in the first regional final because baskets were hard to come by in the East region final. It was a matchup of the two conferences that had been talked about the most in this year's tournament. Michigan was representing the Big 12, the best conference in the country during the regular season, but a huge disappointment during March Madness. They were taking on UCLA from the PAC-12, a conference that didn't get a lot of love during the regular season, but showed how good they were when it counted by getting 4 teams into the Sweet 16 and 3 into the Elite 8. Oregon State had fallen short vs Houston and USC had just gotten bounced by Gonzaga, so it was up to the Bruins if the PAC-12's run was going to continue. 10 minutes into this one it was 11-4 Michigan and, after watching the Gonzaga game, it was hard to imagine how either of these teams was going to be able to keep up with the Zags in the national semifinals if they survived this game. UCLA was able to develop a bit of offense as the half wore on and the Bruins led by 4 at the break. They would extend that lead to 9 early in the second half and it appeared the Wolverines were in deep trouble, but then UCLA went cold. Like "the mountains have turned blue" cold. For the next 7 minutes, the Bruins didn't score. That allowed Michigan back into the game, but they could only muster a mild run while UCLA went scoreless. It would be a one possession game throughout the final minutes, mainly because neither team could score. The Bruins went ahead 48-47 with 4 minutes to play and then no one scored for another 3 minutes. Yikes. Both teams added two points to their totals in the final minute, but Michigan would have the last chance to win. And the chance after that. And one more still. Down by 1, Franz Wagner airballed an open three from the top of the key. After UCLA hit a free throw to make it a two-point game, the Bruins exhibited some dicey last-second defense for the second straight game, allowing Michigan an open look for the win that did not drop. The ball was knocked out of bounds with less than a second to go, but the Wolverines got possession. Surely they wouldn't get another open look, right? Wrong. Wagner got about as good a chance as you can get on a catch and shoot 3 and it didn't miss by much, but it missed by enough. UCLA has gone from the First Four to the Final Four. It feels like they might have stolen Abilene Christian's magic as they've needed miracles to win the last two games. Alabama couldn't hit a free throw and Michigan couldn't hit open threes. They will probably need Gonzaga to miss the exit ramp to the arena to get to the national championship game, but hey, they've made it this far, so you've got to give credit where credit is due. UCLA is your East region champ after an ugly 51-49 victory.
Magic Spreadsheet update: The Main Pool has not been decided yet, but Aiden is the overwhelming favorite at this point. Nate S can still win if Houston defeats UCLA in the national championship game. But any other outcome will give Aiden the win. As for the Gamblers Pool, it was starting to look dire for Scott B, but he can thank UCLA for clinching the 2021 title for him. Tiny needed Michigan to beat UCLA and Baylor to beat Houston to jump over Scott in the standings and he was certainly favored to do so, but the Wolverines came up short. Chubbs was further down the standings, but he had Gonzaga losing to Michigan in the Final Four with Baylor as his overall champion, so he had ample room to make up ground late. But the Wolverines loss left him with too much to do in the final weekend. So congrats to Scott B, the 2021 Gamblers Pool champ!
Time for the Final Four! Can Houston cool down Baylor's explosive offense? Does UCLA have any more miracles up their sleeves? Will we get the covid-delayed dream matchup of Baylor-Gonzaga in the national championship? And can Gonzaga cap off an undefeated season, something that hasn't been done in 45 years? Tune in now!
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