March Madness: Ready for some Men’s NCAA Tournament upsets?

๐Ÿ€ ๐™Ž๐™˜๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™™๐™ž๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ – Game One

โž 105 #Heat
โž 114 #Nuggets

Nikola Jokic and Jimmy Butler go head-to-head in Game One of the #NBAFinals. Two of ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ standout players in the entire league this season. The @GeniusSports predictor favors Denver.

#NBA

๐Ÿ€ ๐™’๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™ค๐™—๐™–๐™—๐™ž๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ – Game One

โž 22% #Heat
โž 78% #Nuggets

Ball Arena plays host to the @nuggets‘ first ever #NBAFinals appearance. Home advantage and @MiamiHEAT‘s grueling 7-game series with Boston, sees them as favorites. โ›ฐ๏ธ

#NBA

๐Ÿ† Tonight: Game One, #NBAFinals
๐Ÿ€ Soon: Round One, #NBADraft

It’s never too early to think about the @NBADraft. With all eyes on Denver, teams at the other end of the league will be hoping a good draft night can turn around their fortunes. ๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ

#NBA
thegeniusplaybook.com/when-is-the-nbโ€ฆ

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Who doesn’t love an upset? It’s one of the reasons why the NCAA Tournament is so enthralling. With the First Round of games upon us, and 64 teams believing that this could be their year (some more than others), the stage is set for some good old fashioned, David vs. Goliath, giant killing. Here are four games where an upset might just be on the cards.

#5 St. Maryโ€™s vs #12 Indiana – Thursday 7:20PM EST

St. Maryโ€™s has earned its best NCAA Tournament seed in school history this year with the number 5 spot in the East regionโ€ฆ but theyโ€™re on upset alert in the first round. Indiana comes into this game in good form, beating Michigan and 16th ranked Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament (IU was an underdog in both games) before losing by just 3 points to future Big Ten Tourney champs Iowa. Indiana has second-team all conference big man Trayce Jackson-Davis, who is a problem underneath, averaging 18.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. They are a streaky team, but theyโ€™re playing well at the right time. St. Maryโ€™s is an extremely determined defensive, pace-controlling team, but these 5/12 matchups always create fireworks in the NCAA Tournament.

DAYTON, OHIO – MARCH 15: Trayce Jackson-Davis #23 of the Indiana Hoosiers (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
#7 Michigan State vs #10 Davidson – Friday 9:40PM EST

One thing puts Michigan St. on the hot seat in this matchup: turnovers. Michigan St. was worst in the Big Ten in turnovers, at 13.1 per game, and second worst in the conference in turnover margin. Davidson only turns it over 9.8 times per game, and they also shoot better the MSU overall and from 3-point range. Michigan St. is always a tough out in March because of the Hall of Fame pedigree of Tom Izzo, the long-time head coach, but if the biggest thing separating these two teams becomes turnovers, the Spartans are going home.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – MARCH 12: Head Basketball Coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
#7 Ohio State vs #10 Loyola Chicago – Friday 12:15 ET

Sister Jean and the Ramblers of Loyola Chicago are back again, and this time as a 10 seed after a Sweet 16 appearance a year ago. They match up against an Ohio St. team that has had a rollercoaster year, beating Duke, Wisconsin, and Illinois throughout the season before borderline face-planting in the tournament, losing four of their last five – three of which came to teams with losing records. Ohio St. entered last yearโ€™s NCAA Tournament as a 2 seed and was upset by Cinderella-story Oral Roberts in the first round. They are a slight favorite this year against Loyola, but they are in serious danger of another early exit.

ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 06: Loyola Chicago Ramblers coach Drew Valentine talks to Loyola Chicago Ramblers guard Marquise Kennedy (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images),
#6 Texas vs #11 Virginia Tech – Friday 4:30PM ET

Fresh off of running the table in the ACC Tournament, winning 4 games in as many days, Virginia Tech is soaring into March Madness on the wings of junior guard Hunter Cattoorโ€™s three-ball. He dropped 31 points on Duke, including 7 for 9 from three, in the ACC Championship game. While VA Tech is in for a significantly more challenging defensive matchup against the Longhorns, Texas is a team that doesnโ€™t score very many points. So, if Cattoor and his teammates can get hot early and stay hot throughout, they have a very good chance to send Chris Beard and Texas packing early on.

BROOKLYN, NY – MARCH 12: Virginia Tech Hokies guard Hunter Cattoor (0) holds up his tournament MVP trophy after winning the ACC Tournament (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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๐Ÿ€ ๐™Ž๐™˜๐™ค๐™ง๐™š ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™š๐™™๐™ž๐™˜๐™ฉ๐™ž๐™ค๐™ฃ – Game One

โž 105 #Heat
โž 114 #Nuggets

Nikola Jokic and Jimmy Butler go head-to-head in Game One of the #NBAFinals. Two of ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ standout players in the entire league this season. The @GeniusSports predictor favors Denver.

#NBA

๐Ÿ€ ๐™’๐™ž๐™ฃ ๐™ฅ๐™ง๐™ค๐™—๐™–๐™—๐™ž๐™ก๐™ž๐™ฉ๐™ฎ – Game One

โž 22% #Heat
โž 78% #Nuggets

Ball Arena plays host to the @nuggets‘ first ever #NBAFinals appearance. Home advantage and @MiamiHEAT‘s grueling 7-game series with Boston, sees them as favorites. โ›ฐ๏ธ

#NBA

๐Ÿ† Tonight: Game One, #NBAFinals
๐Ÿ€ Soon: Round One, #NBADraft

It’s never too early to think about the @NBADraft. With all eyes on Denver, teams at the other end of the league will be hoping a good draft night can turn around their fortunes. ๐ŸŽŸ๏ธ

#NBA
thegeniusplaybook.com/when-is-the-nbโ€ฆ