Get to know these 5 potential bracket busters
Undefeated No. 1-ranked Kentucky can be written in Sharpie when you fill out that office bracket, but the picks that put you over the top aren’t tracing the chalk to Lucas Oil Stadium.
Duke, the top seed in the South, won the last Final Four played in Indianapolis (2010, 61-59). The team that almost topped the Blue Devils? That was Cinderella Butler, which had the final shot in that game played in the school’s home city.
We might not have a Butler or George Mason circa 2006 — reaching the Final Four as a No. 11 seed — but one of these teams could be this year’s bracket buster.
Bobby Hurley hasn’t been to the Big Dance in more than two decades, but he knows what it takes to win when he is there.
Hurley, named the tournament’s MVP in 1992 when he helped Duke win the national title, is heading back as coach of Buffalo after winning 23 games and the MAC tournament title. It’s Buffalo’s first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament, where the 12th-seeded Bulls will try and shock No. 5 West Virginia.
Twelve seeds are 8-4 against No. 5s the past three years.
The 11th-seeded Texas Longhorns were in the perilous position of missing the tournament altogether after compiling a 20-13 record and finishing sixth in the Big 12, but snuck in thanks to playing the 16th toughest schedule in the country. They could get past No. 6 Butler with a strong showing from point guard Isaiah Taylor, who averaged 13 points and 4.6 assists per game.
Look out for Eastern Washington against Georgetown in the 4-13 game. Eastern is the nation’s second-ranked team offensively, and as Tom Crean’s Indiana team found out in non-conference play, it is capable of beating a big boy. EWU can shoot, and if the 3s are falling, there is a strong chance a young fourth-seeded Georgetown team is sent home before the weekend. The name to know for EWU is Tyler Harvey. The sophomore guard is the leading scorer in the nation and when he catches fire, stand back. His 42 points in the Big Sky quarterfinals pushed the Eagles past Montana.
This could be the “eraser region” as the 10-12 seeds in the South are also capable of blowing up brackets. Stephen F. Austin, which plays Utah in a 12-5 game, bumped off VCU last March in a second round contest.
The NCAA Tournament often turns into a guard’s game, and No. 10 Ohio State has one of the best around in freshman sensation D’Angelo Russell, who averages 19.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.1 assists while dazzling with a high basketball IQ. The Buckeyes open against No. 7 VCU. Last year, the Buckeyes were bounced by underdog Dayton, and VCU plays a similar frenetic pace, plus the Rams are tournament-proven and just claimed the Atlantic 10 title. Russell is more than capable of taking over games and putting on his best Shabazz Napier impersonation. Ohio State spent much of the season in the Top 25 rankings.
Also in the West, No. 13 Harvard, which draws North Carolina in its first game, is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the Big Dance. The experienced Crimson, led by Ivy League Player of the Year Justin Sears, knows all about upsets, having won one game in each of the last two tournaments.
There’s been a trend of late of No. 15-seeds beating No. 2-seeds, especially if that No. 2-seed happens to be Duke — which lost to Lehigh in 2012 and Mercer last year. Duke’s not in the East regional, but another ACC school has to be very careful, with Virginia drawing Ohio Valley Conference champs Belmont in the first round. The Bruins are one of the top shooting teams in the country, shooting 47.6 percent from the floor — good enough for 25th in the country. If they can get going, the Cavaliers could be in trouble.
Another team that has to be very careful early on is fifth-seeded Northern Iowa, which gets Mountain West champion Wyoming in the 5-12 matchup. Wyoming is a bit of a Virginia Lite in its style of play, winning with suffocating defense and keeping games in the 50s, where every possession counts. Historically, the 12-5 upset happens about 40 percent of the time, and this could certainly be one of those matchups. UNI is no joke, going 30-3 out of the a very tough Missouri Valley Conference, but Wyoming took down two other NCAA Tournament teams in Boise State and San Diego State to win the MWC tournament this weekend.
