With the NCAA Tournament, better known as “March Madness” kicking off this morning, there are definitely some must see games. We have compiled a list of two games to watch on Thursday as well as three projected upsets and the chance of upset, 5 stars being the highest, 1 star being the lowest.
Upsets:
The Flames shocked many by sweeping through the regular season and taking down highly favored Lipscomb for the ASUN championship for the right to represent their conference in the NCAA Tournament. What makes the Flames such a dangerous opponent for the fifth seeded Bulldogs is their slow pace of play and ability to score when a shot is open. One of the NCAA’s leaders in effective FG%, the average a 56% effective field goal percentage and 1.8 points per possession. When it comes to their slow pace of play, this will be key as many lower-seeded teams tend to hurry their offense, resulting in many moe missed shots. To make matters worse, Mississippi State showed their ability for an upset to happen when they fell in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
St. Mary’s shocked the college basketball world when they defeated then #1 Gonzaga in the WCC championship game and earned them an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. That win also improved their tournament resume, making them a likely upset pick in the first round. Although Villanova is the reigning national champ, they lost Donte DiVincenzo, Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson following last season, and will be relying mostly on the play of Phil Booth and Eric Paschall. At the same time, St. Mary’s is led by All-WCC guard Jordan Ford who averages 21 points per game and contributes to an outstanding defense which silenced Gonzaga’s high-flying offense.
Despite the fact that the LSU Tigers have taken down teams such as Auburn, Tennessee and Kentucky, they come into the tournament in a state of inconsistency and uneasiness. Head Coach Will Wade has been suspended meaning the Tigers will be without one of their most important leaders as they play their most important game(s) of the season. Because of this, along with the dominating win Yale had in the Ivy League championship over longtime rival Harvard, this makes this matchup one likely to be won by the underdog. Although LSU is better in nearly every offensive statistical category, look for the Bulldogs to bring their defense, an area they have excelled at all season.
Thursday’s Games to watch:
Marquette v.s Murray State, Thursday at 3:30 ct on TBS
This is the upset pick nearly every expert is talking about. The Murray State Racers, led by guard Ja Morant (24 ppg) will clash against an extremely talented Marquette squad led by another high-profile scorer in Markus Howard (25 ppg). That sums up the biggest storyline in this matchup: Two top 10 NCAA scorers in a bottle of twelve seed and five seed. Something else to look for will be Marquette’s solid defense against two-point shots while the Racers heavily rely on their excellent two-point shooting. No matter who ends up victorious, we can be sure this one will end close.
Seton Hall against Wofford, Thursday at 8:40 ct on CBS
A ten v.s seven seed matchup, this game pits the Big East runner-up against a mid major school on a 20 game win streak. The Terriers of Wofford have the statistical advantage in nearly every category heading into this one, especially on the offensive end. At the same time, the Pirates of Seton Hall played a much more rigorous conference schedule against teams such as Georgetown, Marquette and Villanova. They have also been good in recent games, upsetting Marquette in the Big East Semifinals before falling to Villanova in the Big East Championship game. In the end, this game will probably be won by whichever team can take care of the basketball and knock down their free throws.
Enjoy the first round! Let us know who you think will be the biggest upset!
biggest upset in round 1...ACU over KY. Or Yale over LSU.