Final Four Predictions

Author: Dawson Haywood

In the Elite 8 article, I predicted Gonzaga, Michigan, Baylor, and Oregon State to win and progress. That leaves me 2-2 in this round and 7-5 since I began making predictions. Michigan and Oregon State set me back this past round losing to UCLA and the fraudulent Houston team. I’m actually glad that I’ve been wrong because it has kept things interesting for me.

Of the three teams in the Final Four Gonzaga, Baylor, and Houston have never won a National Title. UCLA has enough National Titles to pass around but there is a reason they are the team that I am pulling for to win it all and you will read why in this article. 

Predictions
#1 Gonzaga v #11 UCLA
Prediction: Gonzaga Win

For those that are rooting for an underdog in the finals, I would suggest pulling for whatever team comes out of this game. First off if Gonzaga makes the championship and wins it this will be their first national title. 

UCLA took me by surprise and the Pac-12 continues to impress. Only four other teams that came into the tournament at the #11 seed have made the Final Four. UCLA joins the “#11 seed in the Final Four” with LSU (1986), George Mason (2006), VCU (2011), and Loyola Chicago (2018). Should UCLA get past this Gonzaga team they will be the lowest seed to ever make the championship.

 I’m going to pull for UCLA in this game because if they did so we would all be witnessing history. Unfortunately for them, I cannot see them getting past this powerful Gonzaga Team. They just have too many weapons to overpower UCLA. Both teams have something to play for so you best believe that this game may just be the most competitive game in the tournament this year.  

#1 Baylor v #2 Houston
Prediction: Baylor Win

I’m sticking to my original take and will continue to say that Houston is a fraud. Their route to the Final Four has been easiest as they have not played anybody in the tournament that was seeded higher than #10 and does not have high-quality wins in the regular season. Now if they beat Baylor this week I will admit my fault but until then I refuse to do so. Call me stubborn or whatever you want for having this take but I stand by my word.

In an earlier article, I mentioned that I predicted that we would see a Baylor v Gonzaga championship. Now I know I have been harping on Houston being a fraud team but it would be a disservice to my readers to not give them more of a reason to believe Baylor will win this game. 

Both of Baylor’s losses come from teams ranked in the Top 25 and teams that are in the tournament. Kansas and Oklahoma State. The Big-12 was also very competitive this year sending seven teams to the Tournament. Baylor, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas, and Texas Tech. The American Athletic Conference only had two representatives in The Dance this year. Houston and Wichita State. Houston had two losses to teams that I would say didn’t make much of an impact this season but they’re the reasons I’m calling Houston a fraud. Tulsa and ECU finished in the bottom half of the conference and had losing records. Wichita State is the only team that can be justified because they are the AAC regular-season titleholders except they went on to lose to Cincinnati in the AAC Semi-Finals and to Drake in the play-in game.