Bracket IQ

BACK TO Bracket IQ
basketball-men-d1 flag

Wayne Staats | NCAA.com | March 19, 2021

Here's the 2021 Final Four combination picked most often in the NCAA bracket

Tracing the NCAA bracket from 1851 London, through 1977 Staten Island, to today

If you liked the No. 1 teams this year, you weren't alone.

When it comes to Final Four picks, Bracket Challenge Game players picked the combination of the four No. 1 seeds more than any other.

No. 1 seeds Gonzaga, Michigan, Baylor and Illinois made the Final Four together in 8.04 percent of BCG brackets. As a sign of how popular Gonzaga was with users, the Bulldogs found themselves in the top 9 most popular Final Four combos.

UPDATES: We're tracking all perfect brackets in the 2021 NCAA tournament

The first one that doesn't have Gonzaga on the list? That's the No. 10 most popular combination, with No. 2 Iowa joined with No. 1 Michigan, No. 1 Illinois and No. 2 Ohio State, with this group at 1.22 percent. Gonzaga's popularity here makes sense — the Bulldogs are the most popular national champion pick this year by BCG users, too.

Some other things that stand out:

  • Houston is the first non-No. 1 seed to be on the most-popular combo list. The Cougars are with Gonzaga, Michigan and Baylor on the second-most popular combination at 7.80 percent.
  • Texas is the first No. 3 seed here. The Longhorns are part of the fifth-most popular combination, at 3.40 percent.
  • The first combo that has fewer than three No. 1 seeds consists of No. 2 seeds Alabama and Ohio State joining with Gonzaga and Illinois. This is the sixth-most popular combination at 2.67 percent.
  • Florida State is the most popular fourth seed, at least on this list. The Seminoles are with Gonzaga, Baylor and Illinois on the ninth-most popular Final Four combination.

Here's a look at the most popular Final Four combos:

Teams combo Percentage
(1) Gonzaga, (1) Michigan, (1) Baylor, (1) Illinois 8.04
(1) Gonzaga, (1) Michigan, (1) Baylor, (2) Houston 7.80
(1) Gonzaga, (2) Alabama, (1) Baylor, (1) Illinois 5.33
(1) Gonzaga, (1) Michigan, (2) Ohio State, (1) Illinois 4.17
(1) Gonzaga, (3) Texas, (1) Baylor, (1) Illinois 3.40
(1) Gonzaga, (2) Alabama, (2) Ohio State, (1) Illinois 2.67
(1) Gonzaga, (3) Texas, (2) Ohio State, (1) Illinois 2.21
(1) Gonzaga, (2) Alabama, (1) Baylor, (2) Houston 1.99
(1) Gonzaga, (4) Florida State, (1) Baylor, (2) Illinois 1.38
(2) Iowa, (1) Michigan, (2) Ohio State, (1) Illinois 1.22

How First Four teams do in the NCAA tournament

Here is how participants in the First Four have done since 2011 and why you should consider picking one in your NCAA bracket.
READ MORE

This is the longest an NCAA bracket has ever stayed perfect

In the 2019 NCAA tournament, an Ohio man picked the first 49 games correctly in his March Madness tournament. That is the longest streak we have ever seen.
READ MORE

A perfect NCAA bracket: The absurd odds of the March Madness dream

The odds of filling out a perfect NCAA bracket are about 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. That’s 9.2 quintillion and 23 percent less than the chance of picking one of the 7.5 quintillion grains of sand on the planet we picked at random.
READ MORE

Subscribe To Email Updates

Enter your information to receive emails about offers, promotions from NCAA.com and our partners