Good morning everyone and happy Championship Monday! We got a bit of the expected and unexpected on Saturday when Baylor absolutely blew the doors off Houston and we got an instant classic later that night. Baylor is a wagon and Houston was fraudulent, so no surprises there…but I am still buzzing over the UCLA vs Gonzaga game Saturday night. Mick Cronin got the absolute most out of his team the entire tournament right until the final buzzer of this game. I truly hope this was a PAC-12 resurgence and not just tournament randomness, but regardless it seems safe to say UCLA is back. This was a program reviving run for them.
No. 1 Baylor vs No. 1 Gonzaga(-4.5) (159)
As much as I root for chaos and love the randomness of the NCAA tournament, it feels right to have to two clear-cut best teams in the nation going at it for the title. Gonzaga has blown the doors off teams all year and survived an all-time classic on Saturday while Baylor battled through a gauntlet (although maybe not so much after their tournament performance) of a schedule in the Big12. Baylor was also undefeated before a covid pause derailed them and they ran into a buzzsaw in Cade Cunningham in their conference tourney. Because they’re dawgs in this game, I’ll go with Baylor +4.5 and hope for another buzzer-beater finish. The under also seems like a safe pick, but who the hell wants to root for less points in the dadgum national title?
This is it. I told you to enjoy every minute of sloppy basketball, so when you watch the “One Shining Moment” montage, you better not have any regrets. Soak it in, take a moment to exhale, and then get ready for the Masters this weekend. Love you, bye.
The Morning Flush 