March Madness Bracket: Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois, Michigan Get 1 Seeds
March Madness Bracket: Gonzaga, Baylor, Illinois, Michigan Get 1 Seeds
It had been 728 days since we last had a Selection Sunday, but who was counting? On Sunday, the NCAA basketball selection committee released its 2021 bracket for the nation to see after cancelling the 2020 tournament due to COVID-19.
Over the next four days millions of brackets will be filled out virtually and even more with pen or pencil, the old school way.
The No. 1 seeds were pretty much a foregone conclusion before we heard, but the committee confirmed everyone’s thoughts on Sunday night.
Gonzaga comes in as the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. The Zags went through the regular season unbeaten and have been ranked as the top team in the country for almost the entire year. Baylor, Illinois and Michigan also earned one seeds.
So what now? What does the betting look like ahead of the First Four? Let’s take a look.
2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament Odds
As previously mentioned, Gonzaga is the No. 1 overall seed and also the betting favorite. Their +275 odds are indicative of a 26.7% title shot. A No. 1 seed has only lost their first-round matchup to a No. 16 one time. That happened in 2018 as top-seeded Virginia fell by 20 to No. 16 UMBC.
Baylor is the second favorite, according to oddsmakers, at +600. Michigan (+700), Illinois (+1100) and Iowa (+2000) round out the top five shortest teams.