Although this year has been wildly inconvenient for some, one thing has stayed the same; the family favorite tradition of college basketball called March Madness. April 5 was the championship game so many had been waiting for. It resulted in Baylor taking the win for the first time in school history. Jared Butler and MaCio Teague led Baylor with 10 and 14 points. Drew Timme, the player for the Zags that scored the buzzer-beater in their previous game against UCLA, scored 10 points for the team.

The previous game was April 3. Many March Madness followers consider it to be the best game of the season. Both teams played tremendously well and it came down to one buzzer-beater by Timme. Jeff Borzello, a “College basketball insider,” told ESPN, “The Gonzaga Bulldogs’ thrilling 93-90 overtime victory versus the UCLA Bruins in Saturday’s Final Four — already being called one of the finest games in March Madness History — established a new standard for what we expect from our NCAA tournament games.”

Baylor winning the championship came as a shock to a lot of professionals and students at St. Louis High School.  A student at SLHS, Robert Stockero, said, “Even though Baylor is a really good team, no one was expecting them to win.” Even professionals like Borzello, didn’t expect the win. Borzello and many other professionals told ESPN their predictions and every single one had Gonzaga winning. Borzello told ESPN, “Gonzaga 88, Baylor 83 … but personally, the Bulldogs are the most dominant team I’ve seen in my lifetime.” 

However, the Bears won 86-70, and the game wasn’t all that close. It began with Baylor’s defense being exceptional. By half time, the score was 47-37 with Baylor in the lead; Baylor kept this lead throughout the entire game. Kayla Vine shared, “The game was really anti-climatic. I think everyone was expecting a much closer game, and considering how well Gonzaga did in the last game against UCLA, it came as a huge surprise that Baylor won by so much. I don’t think it ruined the whole season, but if it was a closer game it would have been more fun.”