Final Four 2021 Bracket: TV Schedule and NCAA Tournament Breakdown

The primary discussion in men's college basketball this season has been the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Baylor Bears versus the field.

There are two teams left to spoil a national championship that has been talked about for months.

Gonzaga and Baylor have been the most consistent squads in the sport. The only time when one of them looked vulnerable was when the Bears came out of a COVID-19-related pause.

Scott Drew's Bears open the Final Four slate Saturday with a clash against the Houston Cougars. The UCLA Bruins will oppose the Zags in the nightcap at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Although Houston is a No. 2 seed, a win over Baylor would be viewed as a decent-sized shock since many believe we are headed for a Gonzaga-Baylor final.

Men's Final Four Schedule

Saturday, April 3

No. 1 Baylor vs. No. 2 Houston (5:14 p.m. ET, CBS)

No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 UCLA (8:34 p.m. ET, CBS)

Breakdown

Gonzaga and Baylor have seven double-digit wins in eight NCAA tournament games.

The lone exception to that trend was Baylor's nine-point victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Elite Eight.

The Bulldogs' and Bears' NCAA tournament performances have been an extension of their season-long form.

Gonzaga owns 29 double-digit wins in its 30 games. The West Virginia Mountaineers were the only team to finish within single digits of the Zags on December 2.

Baylor suffered a slip in form in late February, as it barely beat the Iowa State Cyclones and lost to the Kansas Jayhawks in its two games out of the pause. But the Bears rebounded in the third game out of the shutdown against West Virginia, and their only loss since was in the Big 12 tournament against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

The Final Four foes of the two remaining No. 1 seeds faced some bumps in the road that make us believe Gonzaga and Baylor will advance to Monday's national championship.

Houston turned in a few uncharacteristic outings in American Athletic Conference play, and it was pushed to the brink of defeat twice by the Memphis Tigers in March.

The Cougars had to eke out a second-round win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and experienced a bit of a scare at the end of Monday's win over the Oregon State Beavers. If Houston either starts slow, like it did versus Rutgers, or fails to close out a lead with conviction, like in the Oregon State game, Baylor could take advantage of its mistakes and pounce for a win.

Baylor's defense has been fantastic during second-half stretches in the past two games. It forced the Villanova Wildcats into six turnovers over a four-minute span, and Arkansas missed 10 straight field goals in its comeback attempt Monday.

Gonzaga's defense through four games has been stellar as well, as it held three opponents under 70 points and limited the Oklahoma Sooners to 71.

The Zags' ability to create separation makes them a heavy favorite to beat a UCLA squad that has relied on its defense to make a surprise run to the Final Four.

Prior to the NCAA tournament, UCLA lost four games in a row to the four other Big Dance qualifiers from the Pac-12. The Bruins responded well to that losing run by putting up 86 points in an overtime win over the Michigan State Spartans. That was the second-highest point total produced by the Bruins, and they needed overtime to record their other 80-point showing against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

UCLA's offensive production dipped in every regulation finish it has had, from 73 points over the BYU Cougars to 51 versus the Michigan Wolverines. To beat Gonzaga, UCLA needs to have a much better offensive performance than it had versus Michigan, and even then it might not be good enough.

Gonzaga either silenced opponents with its defense or outscored a foe's impressive offensive showing during its run to the Final Four. An argument can be made that the only team that can beat Gonzaga is Baylor, which is why many are rooting for the two best teams to emerge from a chaotic tournament and compete for a title Monday.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.