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2012 March Madness Tournament Upset Predictions

2012 March Madness Underdogs – NCAA Tournamant Upset Picks

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The best thing about a single-elimination tournament containing the top 68 men’s basketball teams in the country is that the sudden-death format is bound to produce a number of shocking upsets along the way.

Here is a brief look at few of this year’s likely upsets on a round-by-round basis.

Second Round

The first area to concentrate on an upset in Thursday and Friday’s second round is the dreaded 5 vs. 12 seed matchup. In 2009, three of the four 12 seeds pulled-off the upset. Temple fell to Cornell as a five seed in 2010 and last year, Richmond ousted No.5 seed Vanderbilt.

The prime candidate for this year’s 5-12 upset is Wichita State. The Shockers have to tangle with the 12-seed VCU Rams on Thursday and while this is not the same Rams’ team that made it all the way to the Final Four last season, it is a team that has won 17 of its last 18 games in the highly undervalued Colonial Athletic Association.

Wichita State’s gaudy 27-5 record overall and 16-2 record in the Missouri Valley, has many people penciling it in as an Elite 8 or possible Final Four team, but the Shockers get shocked by Shaka Smart and the VCU Rams in their first tournament game.

Third Round

The Ohio State Buckeyes were once thought of as a lock to be a No.1 seed for this year’s tournament, but while still a very good team, has failed to live-up to expectations with a 6-4 record in their last 10 games.  [soliloquy id=”82219″]

They face Loyola Maryland in the second round and should advance with a win to face No.7 seed Gonzaga in their next game. The Bulldogs are the kind of team that has a history of giving higher seeds fits in this tournament and is in prime position to knock-off the Buckeyes this year.

Sweet 16

Michigan State was named the No.1 seed in the West Region after beating Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament title game and is more than ready for a deep run in this tournament.

The problem is that No.5 seed New Mexico is lurking in the Spartans’ bracket with the two teams set to meet in the Sweet 16. The Lobos quietly compiled a 27-6 record in the Mountain West including back-to-back victories over No.25 UNLV and No.23 San Diego State to claim the conference tournament title. Look for New Mexico to keep things rolling with the upset over Michigan State.

Elite 8

Syracuse has just two losses on the season against 31 victories and is the No.1 seed in the East Region. Lately it has had the bad habit of letting teams hang around in games much longer than it should. It struggled to get by Connecticut in the Big East Tournament in a three-point win and never saw Cincinnati coming in a 71-68 loss in the conference semifinals.

The Orange will come away with wins in their first three games with relative ease, but they will be blindsided again in the Elite 8 by No.3 seed Florida State, which is riding a wave of momentum after winning the ACC Tournament.