by James Finneral
They don't call it March Madness for no reason. Year in and year out the NCAA Tournament provides us with multiple exciting games filled with overtimes, buzzer beaters and yes upsets. There are shocking upsets in just about each round of the tournament and the people of America try to predict where these upsets will take place in their brackets. I will give you a couple games in the round of 64 where some upsets could take place. If you use this article to help fill out your bracket and you are correct, you can thank me, but if not it was your choice and you only have yourself to blame.
Midwest Region:
#11 Texas over #6 Butler:
Butler is a great team that could do some damage in the tournament, but they hit some bad luck drawing Texas for their first game. The Longhorns are big, physical, athletic and create some real matchup problems for Butler. Firstly Texas is 8th in the country in rebounds per game and Butler is outside the top 50. Myles Turner at 6'11", 240 lbs is going to be a nightmare for Kameron Woods to match up with. Look for Turner to come down with many offensive rebounds leading to easy buckets. Another potential issue for Butler will be the Texas back-court. Although Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham are good, they are not going to be able to match the speed and athleticism of Isaiah Taylor and Javan Felix. Taylor is one of the premier guards in the country and he will have to perform big time for the Long Horns to make a run in the tournament. Overall the matchups will greatly favor Texas and they have a good chance to knock off Butler.
West Region:
#10 Ohio State over #7 VCU:
There is nothing about VCU that makes them likely to be upset, but Ohio State has one of the best players in the entire nation in D'Angelo Russell. Russell's numbers don't lie. He has averaged 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in a very tough Big Ten Conference. Russell has the ability to take over basketball games and I think he will do just that against VCU. He can hurt you from inside and out and very few teams have found the solution to stopping him. Also look for Sam Thompson to use his athleticism to his advantage and come up with many baskets from drives to the hoop. VCU has played some talented teams, but they have yet to face a player of Russell's caliber. No matter how much they prepare for him VCU will be not be able to slow Russell down and the rest of the Ohio State offense will flow because of this.
East Region:
#9 LSU over #8 NC State:
Although this is only a 9 over 8 upset, many people seem to think that NC State has this game locked up and should look forward to Villanova. NC State should be focussing all their energy towards LSU because the Tigers are absolutely no joke. The reason why LSU will win this game is simple, they have a powerhouse front-court. Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin have been the best players for the Tigers this year and have both earned spots on the All SEC First Team. These two both make their presence known on the offensive and defensive end. This year LSU has averaged the 12th most rebounds per game and a large part of that comes from Mickey and Martin. NC State is going to have trouble containing both of them down low. They will also not be able to get very many offensive rebounds, limiting their second chances. Trevon Lacey of NC State will be tough for the LSU guards to defend, but it will not matter because Mickey and Martin will take over the game. NC State's front-court is just not strong enough to contain this dynamic duo and LSU will be the team that needs to focus their efforts on Villanova.
South Region:
#12 Stephen F. Austin over #5 Utah:
Utah has had a tremendous season and their program is rising, but I do not think they are a tournament team. As for this Stephen F. Austin team they are looking to at least match their performance last year, where they knocked out the number five seeded, VCU Rams. The Lumberjacks are returning many guys this year and are hungry for a deep run. They are led by junior, Thomas Walkup who has been productive in all aspects this year. This Stephen F. Austin team has a chance to take down Utah this year because of their ability to share the basketball. They lead the country in assists per game with nearly 18. When you share the basketball typically you create open shots and Stephen F. Austin has done that all year. They are 5th in the country in field goal percentage, shooting nearly 50% from the field. The Lumberjacks create open looks by sharing the basketball and with many knock down shooters, they can be a tough team to stop. I believe Stephen F. Austin will go on huge runs against Utah and Utah will not have the resilience to fight back. There has to be one 5 over 12 upset and this will be it.
This looks to be an extremely exciting tournament and I cannot wait to see what madness is in store for us.
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