Bracketology - 2/15/21

 I apologize to my 30-40 or so viewers who never saw my final bracketology. My heart broke with the end of last year, and I don't think I'll ever fully get over losing March Madness. But it has made me even more appreciative of this year's season, and even with everything going on we're thankfully on track to play a tournament this season. It'll look different, but any March Madness is better than none.

For this season, the Cinderella darling has been Drake, who are 20-2 and are a lot of fun to watch. Yet they currently are in as a 10 seed, as their SOS is, for lack of a better term, poor. That's what made yesterday's win over Loyola so huge. It was a Q1 win in a conference where they are not abundant, and gives them breathing room on the bubble.

For the brackets themselves, currently the Regions are named the very imaginative names of Region 1, 2, 3, and 4. I expect better names within the next month, but the point is due to the tournament being entirely in Indiana, there are no geographic regions, meaning that geography is no longer a consideration for seeding the teams.

With all that said, here is the first bracketology of 2021:

Region 1

1 Gonzaga (1)

16 North Dakota State (67)/North Carolina A&T (68)

8 Arkansas (32)

9 Xavier (33)

5 USC (17)

12 Western Kentucky (50)

4 Iowa (13)

13 Winthrop (54)

6 Purdue (23)

11 North Carolina (41)

3 Oklahoma (10)

14 Abilene Christian (57)

7 LSU (25)

10 Seton Hall (40)

2 Houston (8)

15 Grand Canyon (59)

Region 2

1 Baylor (2)

16 Bryant (65)/Prairie View A&M (66)

8 Loyola (Chicago) (31)

9 Minnesota (35)

5 Wisconsin (19)

12 Colorado State (47)/Stanford (48)

4 Texas Tech (15)

13 Toledo (52)

6 Creighton (24)

11 Maryland (43)

3 Tennessee (12)

14 Wright State (55)

7 Clemson (26)

10 UCLA (39)

2 Illinois (5)

15 James Madison (62)

Region 3

1 Michigan (3)

16 Texas State (64)

8 BYU (30)

9 Louisville (34)

5 Kansas (18)

12 Belmont (49)

4 Missouri (16)

13 UC-Santa Barbara (51)

6 Virginia Tech (22)

11 Indiana (44)

3 West Virginia (11)

14 UNC-Greensboro (54)

7 Colorado (28)

10 St.  Bonaventure (37)

2 Villanova (7)

15 Siena (60)

Region 4

1 Ohio State (4)

16 Eastern Washington (63)

8 Florida (29)

9 San Diego State (36)

5 Florida State (20)

12 Boise State (45)/Oregon (46)

4 Texas (14)

13 Colgate (53)

6 Rutgers (21)

11 VCU (42)

3 Virginia (9)

14 Liberty (58)

7 Oklahoma State (27)

10 Drake (38)

2 Alabama (6)

15 UMBC (61)