Baylor's Path to the College Basketball Crown Championship

After missing the NCAA Tournament, Baylor was invited to participate in the Crown Tournament. The Bears will get Minnesota on Wednesday, April 1, for their first game. Here is Baylor's path to a championship in the eight-team tournament.

Don't underestimate the Golden Gophers

I actually really like this matchup in the first round, both pretty solid teams that have beaten multiple top teams, but struggled severely in their respective conferences. Minnesota has three wins against teams that were in the tournament this year. A three-point win against Iowa on January sixth, another three-point win against Michigan State, and a close win at the end of the year against UCLA.

The Gophers are led by Senior guard Cade Tyson, who was a top 50 scorer in the nation, averaging 19.6 points a game. Minnesota plays exceptional defense, allowing 68 points a game, while averaging just over 70 points per game. Minnesota spreads the ball very well on offense, with over five players in their rotation averaging over ten points per game.

Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Langston Reynolds (6) — Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Possible rematch against conference opponent

If Baylor wins their first round, there's a pretty good chance it could end up going up against a very formidable foe. The Colorado Buffaloes were placed in the same region as Baylor and will be facing Oklahoma on Wednesday before the Baylor game. Although I think Oklahoma is the better team and will likely advance, I think Colorado getting the first win could set up for a good Big 12 matchup that would be a really close game.

Baylor and Colorado have had one previous meetup between each other, with Baylor coming out on top in a dominating win in February. Baylor shot over 50% from the field and ended up winning by almost 20.

College Basketball Crown arena — MGM Grand Garden Arena where the College Basketball Crown tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada | Fox Sports

Can they win it all?? And who will they play??

So if Baylor goes and wins both games against Minnesota and Colorado or Oklahoma in the second round, who will the Bears likely see in the championship? If we look at the other side of the bracket, with Rutgers, Stanford, West Virginia, and Creighton, I would say the strongest team to likely come out of this side would be either Creighton or West Virginia.

I really see Baylor having a good shot at winning this tournament. Almost all the teams in here are pretty similar, but I think with Baylor's young, explosive players — if they can just not play themselves outta this first game against Minnesota — they should likely handle Oklahoma or Colorado. I believe the impact of Cameron Carr and Tounde Yessoufou will get Baylor to the championship, to likely play West Virginia or Creighton, and have a real close shot to take the College Basketball Crown Championship to bounce back from what was an "underwhelming" season.