With the NCAA Tournament's Round of 64 games tipping off on Thursday afternoon, it's time for America to fall in love with Cinderella teams once again. Who will lead the charge in NCAA Tournament Upsets?
It's one of the very best days on the sports calendar with 16 do-or-die college basketball games that promise dramatic finishes, heroic performances, and certainly a shocking outcome or two.
Last year, this was the day when Fairleigh Dickinson knocked off Purdue. Two years ago, it was the day that Saint Peter's started its run to the Elite 8 by shocking Kentucky.
Who will it be this season? Here are three possible upsets for Thursday's slate of games:
NCAA Tournament Upset Alert: (11) NC State Wolfpack Over (6) Texas Tech
Red Raiders
Time: 9:40 PM ET
Channel: CBS
Odds: Texas Tech -4.5
Speaking of America falling in love with Cinderella teams, boy did the NC State Wolfpack ever capture the nation's attention with their five wins in five days run to win the ACC Tournament.
I don't think they're done yet. The Wolfpack found something on offense last week that had been missing for them all season, running their offense through dominant post presence D.J. Burns and allowing perimeter scorers like Raleigh-native D.J. Horne and Jayden Taylor to thrive.
Guard Michael O'Connell came into his own as a distributor for the Wolfpack, who finally got their depth pieces playing at a high level, too.
Texas Tech has the guard play to keep up with NC State, but the Red Raiders could find themselves struggling to contain Burns, just like everyone in the ACC Tournament did.
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NCAA Tournament Upset Alert: (13) Samford Bulldogs Over (4) Kansas Jayhawks
Time: 9:55 PM ET
Channel: TBS
Odds: Kansas -7.5
Things have turned ugly for Kansas this season, and it's clear that this has been the worst season of the Bill Self era for the Jayhawks. That the worst season of his tenure still results in a four-seed is a total testament to his greatness, but the Kansas Jayhawks are vulnerable tonight.
Star winger Kevin McCullar has been ruled out for the tournament, and his presence will greatly diminish Kansas' quality on both ends of the floor. Star center Hunter Dickinson will play through a shoulder injury, but the Jayhawks might simply lack the speed and defensive quality without McCullar to keep up with the Samford Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs play at the 14th-fastest pace in the country according to KenPom, and they can use three-pointers to put up a bunch of threes in a hurry. If Samford get hot, Kansas simply will not have the speed or the shooters to keep up with Bucky Ball.
NCAA Tournament Upset Alert: (10) Colorado State Buffaloes Over (7) Texas Longhorns
Time: 6:50 PM ET
Channel: TNT
Odds: Texas -2.5
The Colorado State Buffaloes have proved to be impressive on both ends of the floor in a thoroughly convincing win over the Virginia Cavaliers in their first four matchup in Dayton.
While many took away from that game that Virginia never belonged in the tournament, which is true, the other takeaway should have been that Colorado State never belonged in Dayton. This is one of the 30 or so best teams in the country, and I expect them to prove it today with a win over the Texas Longhorns.
Watch out for Joel Scott, who put up 23 points and 11 rebounds against Virginia and could have a major role in this game as well.
Colorado State is the better defensive team between these two, and they might be well-positioned to limit the offensive impact of Texas leading scorer Max Abmas.
Look for head coach Niko Medved and his team to give Texas all they can handle and possibly even earn a big win here to keep their run going.
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