Bracketology 2021: Creighton, Loyola-Chicago, Arkansas among big winners

Gonzaga

We’re not going to beat around the bush because most of the people reading this article already know the story on Gonzaga. Yes, they play in the WCC, but this program is far closer to a Blue Blood than a mid-major. They remain unbeaten and are going to be a 1-seed this year, but what could they have possibly done to make themselves winners this week?

It’s easy to say that the Bulldogs won’t be properly challenged in the WCC, but they passed their two toughest tests with flying colors this week. They traveled to BYU on Monday, knocking off the pesky Cougars by 11 points. At San Francisco on Saturday, Gonzaga firmly dispatched of a team that’s given them some of their toughest tests in conference play, walloping the Dons by 39 points in a laugher. With Jalen Suggs, Corey Kispert, Drew Timme, and more; the talent on this team is almost incomparable.

College basketball’s best team is now 20-0 and has won their first 11 WCC games. It’s not clear how many more of those conference games Gonzaga will get on the schedule, but there’s been plenty to be impressed about this season. Long before conference play began, the Bulldogs knocked out four different ranked foes, with all the games coming outside of Spokane.

The Bulldogs haven’t played a home game in three weeks, but does it really matter? Unless they can put together a game with a team like Baylor in the coming weeks, this team will almost certainly enter the NCAA Tournament with an unblemished record. What makes them our final winner this week is that they absolutely secured and defended their place as the overall top seed, as they were noted on Saturday’s top 16 reveal.

We’ve presented our close looks at ten winners from this past week, looking at how they’ve helped their cases as bracketologists begin their fiercest work. As March grows closer, who do you think will emerge in the week to come?