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Bracketology 2021: Illinois, Iowa, and Baylor among big winners

By Joey Loose

Michigan guard Mike Smith dribbles against Illinois center Kofi Cockburn, left, and guard Jacob Grandison during the second half of U-M's 76-53 loss at the Crisler Center on Tuesday, March 2, 2021.
Michigan guard Mike Smith dribbles against Illinois center Kofi Cockburn, left, and guard Jacob Grandison during the second half of U-M's 76-53 loss at the Crisler Center on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. /
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Bracketology Baylor Bears Jared Butler Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports
Bracketology Baylor Bears Jared Butler Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports /

Baylor

Those seven Big 12 teams are all built differently, but one is built much better than the rest. After starting their season 18-0 and spending much of the year ranked #2, the Bears took their first loss on the road at Kansas last week, igniting talk that Baylor was mortal after all. They had played fantastically all season long, but maybe they weren’t that much better than the rest of their tough conference mates?

With two big wins this week, Baylor proved not only that they are the best team in the Big 12 but remain one of the truest title contenders in the nation. On Tuesday, they traveled to #6 West Virginia and got a big overtime win, getting 25 points from star Jared Butler. He racked up 22 points on Thursday, as the Bears got a big double-digit win over #17 Oklahoma State.

With Michigan losing this week, Baylor is back to clearly being the #2 team in the nation, sitting now at 20-1, 12-1 in the Big 12. They’ve racked up a bevy of impressive wins, including over Illinois, Kansas, Texas, and West Virginia. Baylor is a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will be a certain contender to make not only a deep run but come away with their first national title.

They still have a regular-season game left, a home date with Texas Tech, but regardless they have already won the Big 12 regular-season title. Baylor will be the favorite to come away with the conference tournament championship. No matter how these games go, you know that their eyes are on Indianapolis, and we’ll have to see if this is the year Scott Drew gets this team to the Final Four.

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