North Shore Nine

With the Round of 64 beginning today, here are some locks and upset picks for today’s slate.

Frank’s Locks:

Texas -2.5 vs Colorado State:

The Longhorns are built for March, with two great guards, Tyrese Hunter and Max Abmas, and depth in the frontcourt.

Brody’s Locks:

Mississippi State ML vs Michigan State

BYU -9.5 vs Duquesne

Frank’s Upsets:

Duquesne ML vs BYU

BYU is heavily reliant on the three ball, which will get them in trouble if shots aren’t falling. With Keith Dambrot announcing his retirement following this season, I feel good about the Dukes pulling off a first-round upset.

McNeese ML vs Gonzaga

In Will Wade’s first season at McNeese, he has led the Cowboys to the NCAA tournament. On paper, this Gonzaga team doesn’t quite stack up to Mark Few’s recent squads.

Brody’s Upsets:

Samford ML vs Kansas

Nevada ML vs Dayton

It’s March, So Here’s One More Potential Upset

South Dakota State vs Iowa State:

Iowa State struggles to score at times, and South Dakota State has one of the better scorers in college basketball in Zeke Mayo. Coming off the high of blowing out Houston in the Big 12 championship game, it could be tough for the Cyclones to get up for this game. Meanwhile, the Jackrabbits are a relatively strong 15-seed, ranked 136 in KenPom.