Stanford Finally Gets the Glory, Gonzaga Falls Short in March Madness 2021
A glimpse into March Madness and how Santa Clara reaps the benefits from the Big Dance
Men’s March Madness
In November of last year, Gonzaga University and Baylor University sat atop the preseason National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball poll.
Behind them were 345 other Division I men’s basketball teams anxiously awaiting their time to participate in a wildly unique 2020-21 NCAA basketball season. The only consistency within the season was unpredictability. Teams’ schedules were altered nearly every week, with games moved and travel plans suspended due to positive COVID-19 tests around the country.
Nearly five months later, a champion has been crowned.
Baylor walked away on Monday night victorious, handing the ‘Zags their first loss in 36 games by dominating 40 minutes of basketball—cruising to a final score of 86-70.
The matchup between Gonzaga and Baylor was just the fifth time since 1962 that the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams faced off in the national championship. In the previous four matchups, the No. 2 team walked away victorious; this contest was no different.
After Gonzaga’s freshman phenom Jalen Suggs banked home a game-winning shot in the tournament semifinal last week, the Bulldogs were on top of the world. Merely 48 hours later, that buzzer beater is now a memory. The seemingly-elusive championship trophy escaped their hands yet again, instead making its way to Waco, Texas.
Gonzaga, a perennial threat in March, made the Sweet 16 for the sixth consecutive time this year while reaching the Final Four for the second time in school history. Even though head coach Mark Few is still searching for that championship ring, his program’s success has benefited schools outside of Spokane, Washington, including Santa Clara.
The West Coast Conference (WCC) is a mid-major conference that does not have enormous football television contracts, so success in an NCAA basketball season is all the more important. Since Few took the helm in 1999, Gonzaga has commanded the WCC, making the NCAA tournament every year since Few’s arrival. Their 22 straight trips to March Madness have generated more than $51 million to the WCC.
When a school’s basketball program wins the WCC, they receive an automatic-bid into the tournament: the conference subsequently receives a “unit” to disperse amongst its universities. This year, a unit carried a value of $337,141 according to the NCAA. A team can earn a maximum of five units (including the automatic-bid) for its respective conference by going on a deep run and winning games against the nation’s premier schools.
Units are paid to conferences over a rolling six-year period; which means that units earned from Gonzaga’s 2015 Final Four run will expire next year and be replaced by their 2021 tournament reward.
The payout for Gonzaga’s March Madness success equates to $6.7 million-plus for the WCC. While units are not evenly distributed between schools, Gonzaga’s run surely benefits everyone in the conference, Broncos included.
Women’s March Madness
On Sunday night, Stanford University won the NCAA women’s championship in a thriller over the Arizona Wildcats by a score of 54-53.
The last time the Stanford Cardinal won a championship was when head coach Tara VanDerveer brought her team to three Final Fours and captured two national championships three decades ago in 1990 and 1992. Since then, the Cardinal have been to 11 Final Fours, including five straight from 2008-12. That third title seemed slightly out of reach… until Sunday.
A dramatic pair of Final Four games that saw Stanford escape with one-point wins over South Carolina in the semifinals and Arizona in the championship led to the Cardinal getting the monkey off their back.
“You know,” a relieved VanDerveer said after stressful, yet victorious contests, “it’s nice to have a little karma going our way.”
Stanford was dominant all year, going 30-2 and entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. Head coach VanDerveer emphasized a beautiful, unselfish game that pushed her team to new heights. VanDerveer passed Pat Summit this year to become the winningest coach in Division I history.
In previous Final Four appearances, Stanford was unable to end their season with a win, coming up just short of multiple national championships––although not due to the team’s lack of talent.
From 2008 through 2014, the Cardinal relied on Nneka and Chiney Ogwumike, the first pair of sisters to each go first overall in the Women’s National Basketball Association Draft. The Ogwumike stars led Stanford to five straight Final Four appearances, but they were never able to accomplish what 2021’s squad did: finish a season on top of the college basketball world.