March is already more than halfway through and brackets for March Madness are out, so let’s take a look at some possible upsets. There’s a lot that goes into every game, so Theogony is zooming in on a few first round matchups that might end up with the underdog pulling through and breaking brackets.
The first matchup to look out for is Arkansas, who is ranked as a No. 10, to upset its rival, No. 7 ranked Kansas. Arkansas has had a few good wins this season, beating Texas, Missouri, Georgia, Kentucky and Michigan. Three of those teams are high caliber teams in March Madness already, making Arkansas a formidable contender against any team. Especially against Kansas, who has lost to Arizona twice within 5 days, along with losing to Houston twice, Texas Tech, Brigham Young University (BYU), Utah, Kansas State, Baylor, Creighton, Missouri and West Virginia. That’s a lot of losses, and a few to teams that didn’t make March Madness. This shows that Arkansas has a very good chance to upset them, due to both teams’ backgrounds this season.
The next matchup to look out for is No. 11 ranked Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) against No. 6 ranked BYU. VCU is coming off winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament, a great achievement for a program that is going to continue to improve. The team’s overall record and offensive output is what makes them such a formidable opponent. A notable player to look out for is to lead this team to a win is Max Shulga, as his playmaking and scoring ability is what brings competitive light to this basketball team. Accompanied by VCU’s other guards who are averaging 10-15 points per game, Shulga and the Rams have a very high powered offense. BYU is ranked 6 for a reason, though, with wins over Iowa State, Kansas, Arizona, Baylor, but they also have some tough losses that give VCU a chance, such as against Ole Miss, Providence, Houston, Texas Tech, TCU, Utah, Cincinnati and Arizona. Four of those teams that didn’t make March Madness beat them. BYU is definitely a strong team that might go a few rounds deep in the bracket, however, VCU’s high powered offense might be too much for BYU and they might crumble in the first round.
Another matchup to look out for is No. 12 ranked UC San Diego vs No. 5 ranked Michigan. UC San Diego is one of the hottest teams in the country right now, they have 30 wins and are on a 15 game winning streak. They are fresh off of winning the Big West Tournament, and are looking to make a statement against Michigan in their schools first ever appearance in March Madness. They have a lot of hype around them right now and their fans are very passionate about the team and are ecstatic that they are in the tournament. However, Michigan is also coming off of a huge win of their own, winning the Big Ten Tournament, which is a much bigger achievement than the Big West Tournament. UC San Diego’s tallest player is 6 feet 8 inches while Michigan has two starting centers over 7 feet. It will be a very tough contest for UC San Diego to win, but with the streak that they are on, they will be able to put up their best fight, and they might be able to catch Michigan off-guard and upset them.
The next matchup to look out for is No. 13 ranked Yale to upset No. 4 ranked Texas A&M. Yale is coming off of winning the Ivy League Tournament, and they have been dominant all year in their division. However, they are being tested against a team significantly better than those of the Ivy League in Texas A&M. They definitely have the team to do this, as their coach has multiple March Madness appearances, so he will know how to handle the moment and figure out how to win. They play very physical basketball that makes it tough for any opponent to play against them. Texas A&M has had a few tough losses this season, losing to Texas, Florida, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Alabama, Oregon and University of Central Florida. They have some bad wins, but they also have some good wins and are in a hard division in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Texas A&M has shown that they are beatable, but it definitely won’t be easy for Yale, and Texas A&M is going to have to give it their all and never let up for even a second, because those nerds can play some ball.
Also lookout for No. 10 ranked Vanderbilt to upset No. 7 ranked St. Marys. S.t Mary’s season hasn’t been that great, losing to Gonzaga in the West Coast Tournament, after beating them not even a month earlier. They also have a few bad losses to Utah State, Boise State, Arizona State University (ASU) and San Francisco. Only one of these teams are in the tournament, and it’s Utah State as a No. 10 seed. Taking a look at Vanderbilts season thus far, they have wins over Missouri, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Texas. Those are some pretty good wins, but Vanderbilt also has quite a few losses to good teams also, which makes them a coin toss as to whether they are going to be competitive in the tournament or not. We can only see how they will do when they play the game, so make sure took look out for that Vanderbilt upset against St. Mary’s
Look out for No. 10 ranked New Mexico against No. 7 ranked Marquette. Marquette has had a number of bad losses this season, after being ranked No. 2 in the last two tournaments. Having lost to St Johns, Uconn, Villinova, Creighton, Xavier and Dayton. Those are pretty bad losses.Villinova and Dayton didn’t make the tournament and Xavier is fighting Texas for a spot in. Now taking a look at New Mexico’s record, they have had a few bad losses, but also some good wins. They lost to St Johns, ASU, New Mexico State, San Jose State, San Diego State and Boise State in the Mountain West Tournament. Every loss besides St Johns are bad losses, however, as I said, they have some good wins too. They beat San Diego State, No. 7 University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), No. 11 VCU, No. 10 Utah State, which are all competitive forces in the tournament. New Mexico’s record shows that they very well could upset Marquette, as the Musketeers have had poor losses this season.
The last matchup to look out for is University of North Carolina (UNC) to upset Ole Miss. UNC was a controversial pick for the tournament, but they have shown that they can earn themself a spot, and this game will prove whether or not they deserved to be there. The reason they were so controversial is because they lost so many conference games, only winning one. They lost to Kansas, Michigan State, Auburn, Alabama, Florida, Duke, Clemson, Lousivillie and the list goes on. They had a really tough schedule, all of those teams are powerhouses in the tournament. They have good wins to make up for their shortcomings though, beating Notre Dame, UCLA, Virginia, Virginia Tech and San Diego State in the First four. Their wins don’t make up for their losses, but they play good basketball, and have been to the tournament before being ranked No. 1 in 2023 and making it to the national championship in 2022, so they will be a threat against a vulnerable Ole Miss. Ole Miss has lost to Purdue, Memphis, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Missouri, Auburn, Vanderbilt and Florida. Looking at the other side though, they have wins over BYU, Louisville, Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Florida and Tennessee. All of those teams made the tournament and pose a threat to everyone, so it won’t be easy for UNC, but it’s March, anything can happen.
