You may not have heard these here first, but you still heard them here. Upsets and the Little Guy are two of the most gripping things about March Madness so here are six games in the first weekend that will go to the underdog…in no specific order:
Houston (13) over Maryland (4)- Midwest Region first round
Murry State (13) over Vanderbilt (4)- West Region first round
Washington (11) over Marquette (6)- East Region first round
Siena (13) over Purdue (4)- South Region first round
St. Mary’s (10) over Richmond (7)- South Region first round
Cal (8) over Duke (1)- South Region second round
Siena (13) over Texas A&M (5)- South Region second round
The theme here is the 13s over 4 seeds, and no 12s beating any of the number 5 seeds. The five seeds always look strong then get caught and while I know I am missing at least one but this could be the year of the 13 seed and doesn’t just about everyone outside of West Lafayette have Purdue going down to Siena?
Riding the Siena bandwagon into the Sweet 16 is a stretch but 4 guys in double figures and Ryan Rossiter’s 13.9 ppg and 11 rpg combined with 17-1 in the Metro Atlantic have me believing in these Saints.
Cal over Duke is already getting a little buzz and you have got to like a group of seniors like Cal has who can score from inside and shoot the 3-ball like they have in Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher and Theo Robertson.
Washington is underseeded and they should be able to expose Marquette in the backcourt. Quincy Pondexter and Lazar Hayward should be an interesting matchup to watch within this one with their athleticism and length.
St. Mary’s just looks like team that isn’t going to allow anyone to take them out of their game and they won’t be disheartened if they fall behind. They have shooters and Ben Allen is going to be a tournament favorite especially for people who haven’t seen St. Mary’s.
Murry State is just a gut-feeling and Houston over Maryland is more of a shot at the ACC than anything else and don’t be surprised if only one ACC team is standing after the first round.
