Baylor vs Gonzaga: 2021 National Championship game preview, TV schedule

Baylor and Gonzaga will meet in one of the most anticipated NCAA Tournament championship games in recent memory; which program secures their first national title?

TV schedule: Monday, April 5, 9:20 pm ET. CBS

Arena: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana

Just over one year ago, the world was thrown into a pandemic that has ravaged our very way of life. Twelve months ago, the initial effects of this pandemic caused the complete cancellation of the NCAA Tournament. We were deprived of 67 exciting, action-packed games and the chance to crown a champion in 2020.

Twelve months later, we’ve gotten our NCAA Tournament and it’s had its fair share of incredible moments. We could talk about the upsets, the big shots, the incredible moments and faces that have emerged, but the story of the 2021 NCAA Tournament is quite clear. We’ve spent 67 games telling the stories of the two very best college basketball teams and now they both face the ultimate test.

Baylor (27-2) emerged as king of the Big 12, despite faltering the Big 12 Tournament three weeks ago. The Bears rattled off 18 straight wins to begin the season, not losing until shortly after a three-week pause due to the national pandemic protocols. There is no question that Scott Drew’s team is the clear #2 in the nation and they’ve shown that in this Tournament.

The Bears dispatched of 16-seed Hartford took care of 9-seed Wisconsin, and knocked out recent power Villanova (the 5-seed); all double-digit wins. In the Elite Eight, Baylor took care of an upstart Arkansas team with a great offensive performance, but they saved their best play for this Saturday. Against Houston in the Final Four, Baylor played one of their best games of the season, knocking off the Cougars by 19 points to advance to the national title game.

For Baylor, junior guard and All-American Jared Butler (16.5 ppg, 4.8 apg) is just one player to watch. Senior guard MaCio Teague (15.9 ppg, 4.1 rpg) has had multiple outings of 20+ points in this Tournament. Junior guard Davion Mitchell (14.1 ppg, 5.3 apg) is one of the best shooters in the nation and has played a major role on this team’s recent success. Throw in talented role players like Adam Flagler (9.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and Matthew Mayer (8.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg) and there’s no question about the depth and strength of this roster.

Across the court, Gonzaga (31-0) has done what few thought possible, landing in the national title game with an unbeaten record. The Bulldogs have been college basketball’s best team all season long, spending much of the year eviscerating their competition. A Blue Blood-caliber program in a mid-major conference, this Gonzaga team has proven time and time again that they are the real deal, even when they face their toughest challenges.

En route to the second title game in program history, Gonzaga won their first four games by double-digits, blitzing their way to the Final Four, toppling 16-seed Norfolk State, 8-seed Oklahoma, 4-seed Creighton, and 6-seed USC along the way. Their game in the Final Four against 11-seed UCLA may go down as one of the sport’s finest games ever played as the Bulldogs squeezed out a win in the tight contest.

Freshman guard Jalen Suggs (14.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg), the highest-rated prospect to ever enroll at Gonzaga, was the true hero with his long-distance shot at the buzzer to end overtime. Sophomore forward Drew Timme (19.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg) has been an absolute force, especially in the interior offense, and has led the team in scoring in each of their last four Tournament games. When you throw in sharpshooting forward Corey Kispert (18.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg), it’s almost unfair, but we’ve barely scratched the surface, not even mentioning Joel Ayayi (11.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg) or Andrew Nembhard (9.1 ppg, 4.3 apg).

Baylor and Gonzaga were expected to face off earlier this season but the game was scrapped due to the pandemic. How lucky we all have become that these two teams will finally face off on the biggest stage of college basketball. These have been the two best programs for the entirety of the season. Both Baylor and Gonzaga have proven this fact time and time again, especially apparent in surviving this chaotic and entertaining Tournament.

The Bulldogs’ offense is lethal, leaving Baylor heavy work to stop their relentless attack, especially in transition. This Bears offense is just as potent, but they’d prefer the game played at their own pace. Gonzaga just played one of their worst defensive games of the season and still pulled out the win against a UCLA squad playing the game of their lives. They’ll need to step it up on defense against a much more potent Baylor squad.

However, Gonzaga packs a certain punch that not even Baylor has seen all season long. They’ve made easy work of teams like Villanova and Houston in recent weeks, but the Bulldogs’ offense presents a challenge like they’ve never seen before.

This tight game might come right down to which team, perhaps which player, is hitting their shots down the stretch, even with the best thing that each defense can throw at them. These teams are elite and are well-matched and this should be another fantastic game of basketball.

But only one team can be crowned the champion, even as both teams have shown in recent weeks how deserving they truly are. Scott Drew and Mark Few will match their wits and one of their programs is about to get a long-deserved scoop of national glory. UCLA’s best effort couldn’t topple this nearly invincible Gonzaga roster, but Houston barely had an answer for this nearly unstoppable Baylor attack.

We should be set for one incredible game that could go either way; a game that very well could give us our first unbeaten champion in 45 years.

Prediction: Gonzaga 82, Baylor 80