The 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is about to start and with Selection Sunday now a relatively distant memory. As with most years prior, Selection Sunday took place in mid-March with the rest of the tournament schedule pushed back a couple days.

Despite the two day shift in schedule, the 68-team table is set for the 2021 March Madness bracket. While projected top-seeded teams like Illinois, Michigan, Baylor, and Gonzaga set the tone as the top contender for their regions, programs like Drexel, Rutgers, Hartford, and Grand Canyon got their unexpected call Sunday night for their first shot in the college basketball postseason tournament in years.

Top Four: ‘Zags, Baylor, Michigan and the Illini

If you’re taking part in any March Madness pools, the popular choice to make it out of their regions are the number one seeds. They are the #1 seeds for a reason after all and this year is no different. There are unquestionably some intriguing matchups that have caught our attention, and with so many spectacular games on the horizon, it’s time to break down the top seeds from each region in this year’s tournament.

WEST – #1 GONZAGA BULLDOGS

Gonzaga walks into a 1st round matchup as the only undefeated team in the country. They boast one of the more veteran, well-balanced squads in the NCAA in which they lead in points per game (92.1), and offensive efficiency (126.1). They carry the best odds to cut down the nets come April.

MIDWEST – #1 ILLINOIS ILLINI

Illinois put on a show in their conference tournament this past weekend, and if you believe anything in superstitions, then this is your team.

The last time the Illini were in the Final Four was 16 years ago, and the time before that was 16 years years before that appearance. And now (16 years later) the Illinois Illini have one of the best teams in the Nation. They carry a fast paced team that plays stingy/efficient defense (87.6 – 4th in NCAA) and two of the best players in the Big Ten in Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn.

EAST – #1 MICHIGAN WOLVERINES

Michigan has been a dominant force all year, and illustrates one of the more efficient, discipled approaches in their style of play led by Freshman big man Hunter Dickinson, the steady playmaking of point guard transfer Mike Smith, and inside-outside threat of Franz Wagner. Although, concerns arise from the recent loss of their star player Isaiah Livers, and even though they have immense depth, we have yet to see them succeed without Livers leadership.

SOUTH – #1 BAYLOR BEARS

Baylor has been predicted by many to be the team with the last laugh come March, and yet can they live up to the hype? Many questions remain. They boast one of the bigger, stronger, and faster teams in the country, yet they’ve had some major losses, and have had serious stretches of inconsistency this year. Although they remain as the best 3-point shooting teams in the nation (41.8%), and are 3rd in offensive efficiency (124.0). They have the talent to get the job done, but will we see them in the NCAA Final Four? Only time will tell.

The 2021 printable March Madness bracket

Now that you’re more familiar with the #1 seeds in this year’s March Madness tournament and the seedings, times, and locations are set, all that’s left to do is fill out your bracket. In order to do so, most of us go for a blank bracket they can print out and fill in before the tournament starts.

No worries, we’ve got you covered at Interbasket with a collection of blank, up-to-date, and printable brackets for you to customize to your basketball-loving heart is full. Here’s two versions for you to consider.

With these two options, we hope one of the designs resonates with you. If so, you can download and print out the first bracket (white background) in PDF here. You can also print out the image version here. For the more-colorful version of the same bracket — the latter and the one you saw at the top of this article — you can download and print out that bracket in PDF format here and the image file here.

Alternatively, you can also fill out your NCAA bracket online with one of the many different fillable brackets online. A couple of the bigger interactive brackets are the NCAA’s Bracket Challenge, Yahoo Fantasy’s Tourney Pick’ Em, and CBS’s 2o21 NCAA Bracket Games. Whether you choose to print out a bracket or fill one out online with your friends – have fun and enjoy this year’s Madness.