It's finally time for March Madness. The selection committee revealed the 68 team field on Sunday night and now the speculation about which team will win the national championship will begin. But that's not the only form of speculation. March Madness is also about those shocking upsets, where smaller schools manage to defeat a larger school on a national stage. Let's take a look at the four most likely teams to pull off an Upset in 2017 March Madness.
1. Middle Tennessee.
Last season, MTSU busted March Madness brackets everywhere when they defeated Michigan State as a 15 seed.
This season, the team returned a majority of its players and is even better. Any team that drew Middle Tennessee in the first round was going to have a rough time, but Minnesota is going to have a really rough one. One of their starters tore his ACL, and the team isn't particularly deep. That leaves Minnesota extremely vulnerable to the upset in the first round.
2. Xavier.
The Musketeers received a 11 seed in the NCAA tournament, which is always dangerous for opponents. Xavier was ranked very highly early in the season, but struggled late, dropping all the way to the bubble before putting together enough wins to land solidly in the 2017 March Madness field. They will take on a Maryland team that has been inconsistent at best throughout the season.
In a game like this, the superior coaching of Chris Mack will allow Xavier to prevail.
3. Rhode Island.
URI was probably from hearing about its status as a bubble team in 2017 and safely avoided the conversation by thumping VCU in the Atlantic 10 conference championship. E.C. Matthews is a star and could easily carry this team to victory over a Creighton team that still isn't playing at the high level it was prior to Maurice Watson's injury.
4. Nevada.
Of the 12 seeds, Nevada got one of the worst draws in a hot Iowa State team. It might not even matter. Nevada has some of the best guards in the country and plays in one of the much stronger conferences (relative to other mid-majors) in the nation. Don't be surprised to see Nevada put up a solid fight and maybe even come up with a shocking win against the Cyclones.
