The 2021 NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket was announced Sunday evening.

Gonzaga claimed the top seed. The Zags are undefeated with a 26-0 record and are seeking to become the first team since Indiana in 1976 to complete a perfect season with a title. Mark Few’s team is the fifth team to enter the tournament without a blemish since ’76.

The remaining No. 1 seeds were Baylor, Illinois and Michigan. Baylor won its first conference championship since 1950, also the most recent time the Bears reached the Final Four. Illinois won the Big Ten Tournament, and Michigan won the Big Ten regular season crown.

The Big Ten Conference received two 1-seeds and two 2-seeds as Iowa and Ohio State were on the two-line. The other two seeds were Houston, out of the AAC, and SEC champion Alabama.

The Big 12 had the most bids of any conference with nine. The ACC and the Big 12 tied for second with seven each.

Returning to the Tournament is Rick Pitino. The hall-of-fame coach led Iona to the MAAC championship in his first year at the helm of the Gaels. He became the third coach to lead five different schools to the NCAA Tournament (Boston University, Providence College, the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville). The others to do it are Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith. The Gaels are a 15 seed and are matched up with Alabama.

Bubble Watch:

The First Four consists of one showdown between two blue bloods and a match-up of two mid-majors. UCLA takes on Michigan State, and Wichita State faces Drake. Each of the First Four games are scheduled for Thursday.

Should a member of this field, who is from a multi-bid league, suffer a Covid-19 pause by Tuesday, a new team will be added to the field in its place. The selection committee announced that the order to teams to be added are as follows: Louisville, Colorado State, Saint Louis and Ole Miss. If the team that is forced to withdraw is from a one-bid league, another team from that league will serve as the replacement.

This tournament will be without both Kentucky and Duke for the first time in 45 year.

Looking Ahead:

The first round is slated to kickoff Friday at noon ET. The Final Four is set for April 3, and the championship is booked for Monday, April 5. The entire tournament is set to be played entirely in the state of Indiana.

The 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, so this was the first bracket reveal in 727 days.