{"id":341619,"date":"2021-04-06T06:04:49","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T20:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=341619"},"modified":"2021-04-06T06:04:49","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T20:04:49","slug":"ncaa-championship-bulldogs-or-bears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/ncaa-championship-bulldogs-or-bears\/","title":{"rendered":"NCAA championship: Bulldogs or Bears?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only one team will see its title drought end. Will it be Gonzaga University or Baylor University?<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs will be gunning for their first NCAA championship in record fashion, as a victory over the Bears will not only give Gonzaga the crown, but also hand the team an unbeaten record for the 2020-2021 season. <\/p>\n

The Bulldogs hold a 31-0 record coming into today\u2019s finale and another win would tie them with coach Bob Knights\u2019 Indiana Hoosiers, which were the last NCAA squad to have clinched a title with an undefeated record when they dominated Michigan, 86-68, on March 29, 1976.<\/p>\n

Baylor also wants a date with history by winning its first NCAA crown. It will only be the Bears\u2019 second attempt at bagging the championship after losing to the Kentucky Wildcats, 48-52, in the 1948 finals. <\/p>\n

Baylor was among the favorites to top the NCAA in 2020, but the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the 2021 season pushed through, the Bears lived up to expectations and are using the called off March Madness season last year as motivation to win it all this time.<\/p>\n

CNMI basketball fanatics take their picks, with both teams gunning for their first NCAA championships, will it be the season\u2019s undefeated Gonzaga Bulldogs, or the season\u2019s underdog, Baylor Bears?<\/p>\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"
Monroyo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cSince I watched the video clip of Jalen Suggs\u2019 dagger that gave Gonzaga the 93-90 win against UCLA in the Final Four, I would go for the Bulldogs. It\u2019s always great to win the championship in style\u2026going unbeaten and getting your first-ever NCAA title.\u201d
\n\u2014 Roselyn Monroyo, Avid basketball fan<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Del Rosario<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna go for Gonzaga, [Corey] Kispert and [Jalen] Suggs form a dynamic backcourt. [Drew] Timme (19.0 points per game) has been a force throughout the tournament. But the Bears are more than capable as they are the best 3-point shooting team in the country.\u201d
\n\u2014 Norman Del Rosario, IT&E graphic artist<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Blanco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAlthough I am a Creighton Blue Jays fan, I am rooting for the Zags as the only Jesuit school going into the championship. I predict Zags, 97-93.\u201d
\n\u2014 Rep. Ivan Blanco, CNMI Legislature<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Dame<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI am rooting for the Baylor Bears. I\u2019m guessing the final score to be Baylor 75, Gonzaga 72. I\u2019m rooting for Baylor for selfish reasons. One, I would rather Gonzaga not go undefeated and win the title; two, Baylor is a Baptist university and someone who I think highly of who had a big impact on my life received his degree from Baylor. I do not know anyone who went to Gonzaga personally. Also, if the Zags win, it will make it that much more difficult for my favorite team, Kentucky, to recruit.\u201d
\n\u2014 Stephen Dame, Saipan Community, Church senior pastor <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
Bautista<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs a Michigan alumni and a USC graduate student, it was a bummer to see both my teams go out in the Elite Eight. But for the national championship, I\u2019m going with Baylor just because they\u2019ve been the most consistent team in the tournament. Their average margin of victory during the tournament is 15.2 points, they\u2019re holding teams to 44% shooting, and they played strong in their Final Four game against Houston. Going with the Baylor Bears over the Zags.\u201d
\n\u2014 Kevin Bautista, Governor\u2019s Office press secretary<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Only one team will see its title drought end. Will it be Gonzaga University or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":322160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1154,869,22785],"class_list":["post-341619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-ivan-blanco","tag-ncaa","tag-saipan-community"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}