John Locher/AP
- March Madness is here, and that means it’s time to fill out brackets.
- Upsets in the tournament are common but are nearly impossible to pick.
- We surveyed the brackets and upset predictions of several college basketball experts to get an idea of who could be a Cinderella team this year.
March Madness is here!
With the NCAA Tournament bracket now official, it’s time to start filling out brackets, picking winners, and most importantly, taking a stab at upsets.
Picking upsets is not an exact science. Sometimes wins can be flukey and sometimes they happen to teams nobody expected. Usually, however, the best method is to find top-ranked teams who seem vulnerable and are playing strong, lower-ranked teams who enter the tournament on a high note.
We surveyed the upset picks and brackets of several college basketball experts and picked seven upset picks that kept coming up. The experts included: Seth Walder and John Gassaway of ESPN; Sports Illustrated’s college basketball staff; Henry Bushnell, Jeff Eisenberg, and Jason Owens of Yahoo; Alex Kirsher of SB Nation; Bill Bender of Sporting News; Jeff Greer of The Athletic; and Seth Davis of The Athletic.
Check out who the experts are picking to pull off upsets in March Madness below:
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No. 12 Murray State over No. 5 Marquette
Timothy D. Easley/AP
Expert prediction: From The Athletic’s Jeff Greer: "Not only do they have [Ja] Morant, an electric talent projected to be a top-three NBA Draft pick, they also possess an efficient offense that hits the glass and doesn’t turn the ball over too much."
No. 13 UC Irvine over No. 4 Kansas State
Alex Gallardo/AP
Expert prediction: From Yahoo: "UC Irvine (30-5) is an experienced, defensive-oriented team that potentially matches up well against Kansas State. The Anteaters are among the best in the nation at giving up nothing easy at the rim and the Wildcats are a poor perimeter shooting team that could be especially limited from behind the arc if sharpshooting forward Dean Wade isn’t healthy enough to play."
No. 12 New Mexico State vs. No. 5 Auburn
Steve Marcus/AP
Expert prediction: From ESPN: "Auburn won the SEC tournament, but our Giant Killers model isn’t completely sold on the Tigers. The Aggies, who are on a 19-game run, will hold a significant advantage on the boards and will be a tough out in the first round."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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- Here’s your printable 2019 NCAA tournament bracket
- 6 tips for filling out your March Madness bracket
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Source: Business Insider – sdavis@businessinsider.com (Scott Davis)