Bubble Watch 2021: Revealing a very normal bracket in an unprecedented year

The NCAA held its annual bracket preview Saturday and revealed the top 16 teams in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket if the selection had been made based on results to date. The most surprising aspect of the NCAA’s preliminary bracket is that there were absolutely no surprises.

Gonzaga, Baylor, Michigan and Ohio State, in that order, earned the four No. 1 seeds. On the next line, Illinois, Villanova, Alabama and Houston all heard their names called. In Bubble Watch terms, the bracket reveal was a family reunion of teams that have been listed as “locks” here from the beginning.