“March Insanity” is right here, and with the announcement of this 12 months’s brackets, the eye turns to which underdogs may sneak into the second spherical.
With that in thoughts, listed here are 5 potential upsets for spherical one of many NCAA Event.
No. 12 McNeese State (30-3, 17-1) over No. 5 Gonzaga (15-7, 14-2) | Midwest Area | A latest examine by Dartmouth revealed just a few constants in first-round event upsets — success from past the arc is certainly one of them. That is excellent news for a McNeese State group that ranked eighth within the nation in three-point share (.388) this season.
After a robust season, the Southland Convention champions earned the best to be a classy decide to win after struggling solely three losses whereas posting noteworthy highway victories over VCU, UAB and Michigan.
In the meantime, Gonzaga enters because the No. 5 seed, their lowest since 2016, and may even be underdogs towards the Cowboys.
No. 12 James Madison (31-3, 15-3) over No. 5 Wisconsin (22-13, 11-9) | South Area | The Solar Belt Event champions enter the event on a roll, profitable 13 straight forward of a matchup with the Badgers. In the meantime, Wisconsin has misplaced 9 of the final 15 video games and is seemingly ripe for the selecting.
Amid one of the best season in program historical past, persevering with it with a first-round upset may very well be within the playing cards. JMU boasted the ninth-highest scoring offense (84.4 PPG) within the nation, which might show difficult for a Wisconsin group that is stable on protection (69.3 PPG).
No. 11 NC State (22-14, 9/11) over No. 6 Texas Tech (23-10, 11-7) | South Area | After changing into solely the second group ever to win a convention title by profitable 5 video games in 5 days, NC State has a Cinderella group written throughout it. The ACC Event champions battled via ups and downs all season however are seemingly catching fireplace on the proper time behind the dynamic pairing of DJ Burns and DJ Horne.
Texas Tech is not any slouch, having earned wins over No. 20 BYU (twice), No. 16 Kansas and No. 14 Baylor. Nevertheless, throughout NC State’s miraculous latest run, they’ve knocked off No. 11 Duke and No. 4 North Carolina and appear primed for a possible deep run.
No. 11 Duquesne (23-11, 10-8) over No. 6 BYU (23-10, 10-8) | East Area | The A-10 Convention Event Champions face a tall job towards BYU, however boasting one of many nation’s stingiest defenses offers them a wonderful shot. Duquesne allowed 66.5 factors per sport this season (thirty fourth), which they’re going to want towards a Cougars squad that posted 81.8 PPG (twentieth).
Duquesne will want an offense that mustered solely 71.2 PPG to step up in the event that they hope to tug off the upset towards a really sport BYU squad. Nevertheless, after such a miraculous run to clinch this system’s event berth since 1977, something is feasible.
No 10. Drake over No. 7 Washington State (24-9, 14-6) | East Area | Drake is available in as the warmer group, having gained 5 straight, together with the MVC Event championship over Indiana State. In the meantime, Washington State enters sluggishly, going 3-3 over the past six video games, contemporary off a loss to Colorado within the Pac-12 Event semifinals.
Very like Duquesne, Drake hopes a protection that allowed solely 70.5 PPG towards will make the distinction. Nevertheless, not like the Dukes, the Bulldogs boast a lethal offense, posting 80.5 PPG, ranked thirty fifth within the nation.
