For those going mad ahead of March Madness, we at Sports World News are preparing you to make the most educated guesses possible for your upset specials. Some might get lucky picking on the basis of favorite colors or mascots, but the real key to success is information.
So without further ado, here's a very live underdog--the Eastern Washington Eagles.
Eastern Washington is 26-8 this season, and they reached that excellent record by riding an electric offense that scored 80.8 points per game, third-best in the nation. That offense is spearheaded by junior guard Tyler Harvey, who averaged 22.9 points per game.
Harvey is the lead dog in the Eagles' backcourt, but his big averages aren't born of inefficiency. He takes 15 shots per game to get his 23 points, hitting 47 percent from the field and just less than 43 percent from beyond the arc on 9.2 attempts.
Three Eagles average double-digit scoring, and as a team they were a Top 10 team in the country in 3-point shooting. They sank 178 3-pointers over the course of the season, the most in the NCAA. Senior guard Parker Kelly is Harvey's second-in-command from the 3-point line, knocking down 44 percent of his treys.
For all that offense though, the Eagles struggle mightily on the other end of the floor. They gave up 73.6 points per game, the 328th-best mark in the country, and opponents shot 45 percent from the field and 38 percent from 3-point range. That's why their opponent, No. 4 seed Georgetown, is an okay matchup for Eastern Washington.
The Hoyas are not a bad offensive team, but they are middling scorers (89th) and 3-point shooters (156th), while they are mediocre defensively (131st in points per game). A hot shooting night for Eastern Washington could sink the Hoyas if their own star, D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, has an off night.
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