Skip to main content

2021 March Madness: Matt Welch's Bracket

Is this finally the year West Virginia has a favorable draw and makes a run?
  • Author:
  • Publish date:

West Virginia’s men’s basketball team received a favorable draw in this year’s NCAA Tournament. I’ve got the Mountaineers making a sizable run in this year’s event due in large part to that.

Of course, WVU’s success will rely heavily on rebounding from its recent late-season woes. But, if the Mountaineers pull it together, I’ve got them meeting up with Gonzaga for the national title.

I’ll take a look at how they get there while revealing the rest of my picks.

For full disclosure, here’s my bracket:

Screen Shot 2021-03-15 at 8.12.33 PM

In the Midwest region, I’ve got West Virginia beating Morehead State. It’s certainly not a “gimme” with the way the Eagles have been playing as of late.

Morehead State is 23-7 and has won 19 of its last 20 games. The lone loss came to Belmont, which the Eagles turned around and beat for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title on March 6.

The Eagles are defensive-minded, so WVU will need to bring it on both sides of the floor.

I’ve got Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Syracuse, Clemson and Houston winning first-round games, pitting WVU against Syracuse in the second round.

Syracuse can be streaky, but I think the Orange make it past San Diego State, setting up an old Big East matchup for West Virginia. I have West Virginia’s offense beating ‘Cuse’s 2-3 zone defense to move on.

I’ve also got Illinois, Oklahoma State and Houston advancing to the Sweet 16, setting up a matchup that football fans will get a kick out of — WVU vs. Houston.

Houston’s offense presents issues for WVU, but as long as the Mountaineers defend the 3-point line I’ve got WVU moving on to the Elite 8 with Oklahoma State.

If this WVU team plays like it did in the middle of the season, I don’t think there’s any way the Mountaineers let Oklahoma State beat them three times in a row.

From there, I’ve got Ohio State making its way through to the Final Four along with Gonzaga and Alabama.

If WVU can get its inside game going against the Buckeyes, it’s on to the national title game against Gonzaga.

I don’t think any team beats the Zags, though, and West Virginia will fall there.

Sweet 16 teams: Gonzaga, Virginia, USC, Iowa, Michigan, Georgetown, Texas, Alabama, Illinois, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Houston, Baylor, Purdue, Texas Tech, and Ohio State.

Elite 8 teams: Gonzaga, Iowa, Georgetown, Alabama, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Purdue, and Ohio State.

Final Four teams: Gonzaga, Alabama, West Virginia, Ohio State.

National Championship: Gonzaga vs. West Virginia

National Champion: Gonzaga.