Gonzaga are still defenseless, Baylor & Michigan are no longer 2 seeds overall

Election Sunday is just two weeks away and March Madness is fast approaching.

In case you missed the games on Saturday, here are some of the top headlines boiled down: Gonzaga ‘s No. 1 is yet to go into March, Baylor’ s No. 2 is missing for for the first time and No. 3 Michigan is now the No. 2 overall seed prediction in the NCAA Championship, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

Traditional blue blood Duke and Indiana are living on the bubble, and Kentucky had to win the SEC Championship to make the Big Dance.

And Oklahoma state expert Cade Cunningham confirmed his case as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft with an incredible 40-point, 11-rebound trip against Oklahoma.

Here’s a brief overview of some of the key stories:

NO. 1 GONZAGA GETS IT DONE, WHO IS GOING TO DO IT?

The top-ranked Bulldogs finished a consistent season without a loss with an 86-69 win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday.

He says here that there is a hard chance – I will put it at 60 percent – that the Zags will go undefeated all March and April and win the program ‘s first NCAA tournament. . They lost in a 2017 NCAA title game to North Carolina.

The Bulldogs (24-0, 15-0 WCC) won their 51st straight home game to set a school record, and finished the first perfect regular season in program history. Gonzaga has won 28 straight games going back to last season and is the first team to finish the regular season unbeaten from Kentucky in 2014-15. The Zags have 21 straight wins with 10+ points.

“It’s getting harder and harder to find something that has never been done in this program. There are very few things left, ”said Gonzaga coach Mark Few. “It’s really amazing for this group to see that it’s amazing, and when you put them in they didn’t have ‘The Kennel’ in charge of me at all. ”

The Zags are the only team in the country with three players – Corey Kispert, Jalen Suggs and Drew Timme – named to the 2021. Naismith Trophy Midseason Team. They have size, length, depth, excellent coaching and a predicted NBA top-5 selection in Suggs.

They may lose in March to one of the few other NCAA title contestants – Baylor, Michigan, Villanova, Iowa, Illinois

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, Ohio State, Florida State – but the prediction is here that they are cutting down the nets on April 5 in Indiana.

CAYLOR LOSS FOR FIRST JOURNEY

With them playing in the Big 12 and not the WCC, Baylor ‘s chances of not getting a disdain during the regular season have always been harder than Gonzaga.

The Bears lost to Kansas, 71-58, Saturday night but fell to 18-1, 11-1 Big 12, while Kansas improved to 18-8, 12-6. But keep in mind that Baylor recently emerged from Covid’s three-week stop in which five games were canceled or postponed.

“We had three weeks where they got worse and they had three weeks where they got better,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, who led the Kansas-string team to a string there. the 77-69 victory last month in Waco, Texas. “Even Superman has kryptonite and I believe we have COVID protocols.”

Kansas, meanwhile, improved to 17-5 against top-10 teams at Allen Fieldhouse under coach Bill Self.

No one is actually naming Kansas as a national champion but the win over Baylor was just their latest over a record team this season.

MICHIGAN IS NOW FREE. 2 OWN VIEW

Like Baylor, Michigan’s extended Covid stop was triggered by their athletic department shutting down all sports for three weeks.

But despite going 23 days between games, Juwan Howard’s side are now 18-1 overall, 13-1 in the Big Ten and 5-0 since coming off the layoff on February 14 During that race alone, they beat Wisconsin ‘s No. 21, Rutgers (ready to make its first NCAA Tournament since 1991), Ohio State’ s No. 4, Iowa No. 9 and Indiana. Their only loss this season was at No. 23 Minnesota on Jan. 16.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is now on the Wolverines as the No. 2 overall seed.

Former Fab Five member Howard is the first Michigan coach to win 37 of his first 50 games and the Wolverines are set to become No. 1 seed for the first time since 1992-93 season when he played there.

Michigan has everything it takes to win the title and is fully loaded.

Sophomore guard Franz Wagner is a long, wiry player who can score in a number of ways and is an NBA first-round pick, while top-ranked Isaiah Livers is a forerunner. . Big Freshman Hunter Dickinson is the team’s top scorer and defended Luka Garza’s favorite Naismith Player of the Year this week, while Columbia grad transfer Mike Smith is second in the Big Ten in assists after spending last year as the country’s sixth top scorer. with the Lions.

Michigan has another titanic game Tuesday against No. 5 Illinois.

DUKE AND KENTUCKY MISS THE TOURNAMENT

Duke has not lost the NCAA Tournament since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in his first term as President, and Kentucky has lost the tournament just twice since exiting NCAA penalties in 1992 season, most recently in 2013.

After Duke’s 70-63 home loss to Louisville on Saturday, they fell to 11-9, 9-7 in the ACC and are among Lunardi’s “First Four Out”.

Louisville ‘s Carlik Jones took over the game in extra time as Duke’ s Matthew Hurt did not hit the ball at the end of rule in the OT while finishing with 37 points before being sent off.

“[With] Great teams, you have to do more than just put yourself in a position to win, ”said Wendell Moore Jr., forward sophomore. “You have to come out and win.”

The Blue Devils have two regular games left with Georgia Tech and North Carolina, and then may have to run in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro, NC

Kentucky lost at home to Florida, 71-67, to fall to 8-14, 7-8 in the SEC. John Calipari’s team must win an SEC Championship so they don’t lose the Dance for the first time in eight years.

Meanwhile, NBA Draft stock of freshmen BJ Boston and Terrence Clarke, made for the season with injuries, has fallen. Freshman forward Isaiah Jackson looks like the team’s best NBA prospect.

“Boston and Clarke have played themselves out of the top 20,” said one official at the Western Conference. “Jackson seems to be the best prospect of the 3 and if he could shoot, he could be one of the top 20.”

PROJECT NO. 1 NATIVE CUNNINGHAM PICK CADE 40

The Oklahoma State striker went 40 points and 11 rebounds in the Cowboys’ 94-90 win over rival Oklahoma in the first of two Bedlam games.

Minnesota and Detroit have the two worst NBA records and appear to be fattening their lips in anticipation of landing the 6-7 point guard with the No. 1 overall pick.

“Teams like Minny and Detroit should not win another game and put themselves in a strong position to become No. 1,” one official at the Western Conference told ZAGSBLOG.