Baylor guard Jared Butler shoots between Gonzaga forward Anton Watson (left) and guard Andrew Nembhard (right) during the second half of the men’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on April 5, 2021.
Credit: © Darron Cummings, AP/Shutterstock

On Monday, April 5, the Baylor University Bears routed the previously undefeated Gonzaga University Bulldogs 86-70 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball championship in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was Baylor’s first championship win, having last appeared in the championship game 73 years ago.

Gonzaga went into the game with a 31-0 record. The Indiana University Hoosiers were, in 1976, the last undefeated team to win a championship. But almost immediately, the Bulldogs’ bark was worse than their bite. Baylor swiftly took the lead. Nearly four minutes passed before Gonzaga got a single basket. And by that point, Baylor was approaching the double digits. With rebounds, shooting, and pure speed, Baylor quickly established a rhythm that Gonzaga was unable to break throughout the rest of the game.

Baylor’s guards were key to the win. Jared Butler scored 22 points with 7 assists. Davion Mitchell had 15 points and 5 assists. And MaCio Teague had 19 points. Baylor neared the end of the game with a 16-point cushion, but there was no way to cushion the blow for a Gonzaga team, which had not lost since before the start of the pandemic (global outbreak) of the coronavirus disease COVID-19. (Because of the ongoing pandemic, there was limited attendance throughout the tournament.)

Stanford guard Lexie Hull drives past Arizona forward Trinity Baptiste during the first half of the women’s NCAA championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on April 4, 2021.
Credit: © Morry Gash, AP/Shutterstock

The men’s national championship game was not the first major basketball event of the week. On Sunday, April 4, the Stanford University Cardinal edged out the University of Arizona Wildcats 54-53 in the NCAA women’s basketball championship in San Antonio, Texas. Stanford was ahead for much of the game. But, the Wildcats’ guard Aari McDonald managed to close the lead to just a single point. In the final seconds of the game, McDonald tried for a jump shot. But, the ball bounced off the back of the rim as time—and the Wildcat’s incredible run—expired. Stanford’s championship title—the third in school history—was their first in 29 years.

The men’s and women’s NCAA basketball championships are a group of tournaments played at the end of the regular season in March and April to determine national college champions in men’s and women’s basketball in the United States. Played mostly during March, the tournament has been labeled March Madness and is one of the most-watched television sports events of the year in the United States.

In March 2020, the tournaments were canceled, because of the threat of COVID-19. A year later, the respiratory disease is still affecting nearly every part of life. Basketball is no exception. Cardboard cutouts of fans have filled stadiums for some games and players have congratulated one another with elbow bumps—well, except when they’ve embraced after last-second game-winning shots. Despite the restrictions, the 2021 NCAA basketball championships offered a bit of normalcy to an otherwise abnormal time.