With the NCAA Tournament's Round of 64 games continuing on Friday, 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 round 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.
Yesterday, we saw Oakland stun Kentucky while NC State, Duquesne, and Oregon all won games as 11 seeds.
Who will it be today? Here are three possible upsets for Friday's slate of games:
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NCAA Tournament Upset Alert: James Madison vs. (5) Wisconsin
Time: 9:40 PM ET
Channel: CBS
Odds: Wisconsin -5.5
This game promises to be an exciting one, as Wisconsin's slow tempo invites lesser opponents to stick around and make things close longer than they otherwise should be.
Look for James Madison to oblige in sticking around, and look out for them to even pull this one out in the end. Wisconsin was positioned for a much higher seed than this for much of the season, but a long spell of struggles knocked them out of the one-seed picture and ultimately down to the five line.
James Madison was not the favorite to win the Sun Belt Tournament, that was Appalachian State, but it's no big surprise that the Dukes are here either.
Led by do-it-all guard Terrence Edwards Jr. and Boston College transfer T.J. Bickerstaff, James Madison has the top players with the skill and experience necessary to hang with a loaded power five roster like the Badgers have.
NCAA Tournament Upset Alert: (8) Utah State vs. (9) TCU
Time: 9:55 PM ET
Channel: TBS
Odds: TCU -4.5
While this would not be an upset by the seeding, the market has spoken and chosen to make TCU a clear favorite heading into this one.
Coming out of the dominant Big 12 conference, TCU is a physical team that plays tough on both ends of the floor and is led by the prolific scoring of Emmanuel Miller. While the Horned Frogs are a tough opponent, they enter this matchup in poor form, having lost five of their last eight games dating back a month.
In that span, the Frogs have only defeated non-tournament teams such as Oklahoma, Cincinnati, and West Virginia. If TCU wants to move on, they'll have to beat a team better than any they've beaten since then.
Utah State lost in the Mountain West semifinals to San Diego State, but the Aggies are used to the physicality that TCU promises to bring, as it is the norm in the Mountain West.
Look for forward Great Osobor, who comes in averaging 18 points and 9.2 rebounds per game to feel right at home this one and to be a potential difference-maker.
Read More: NCAA Tournament Favorite: Houston Looks to Get Over the Hump
NCAA Tournament Upset Alert: (12) UAB vs. (5) San Diego State
Time: 1:45 PM ET
Channel: TNT
Odds: San Diego State -6.5
We're taking lessons learned from Thursday and applying them to Friday with this one.
Yesterday, we saw Duquesne, Oregon, and NC State all pull off upsets after winning their conference tournaments as bid stealers-- teams who weren't anywhere near the NCAA Tournament picture without winning their conference.
The other team that fits that mold and is an underdog today is UAB. The Blazers are peaking at the right time and have all of the confidence in the world, while San Diego State is coming off of a conference championship game loss to New Mexico.
UAB's path to a win lies through overcoming their own porous defense, but sometimes college basketball really is all about playing in rhythm and with confidence at the right time. Did the Blazers team that won the American look like one that couldn't overcome those issues? They didn't, and we've just seen NC State play above its typical defensive level and Duquesne significantly up its offensive game.
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