South Dakota State Jackrabbits

13 Seed in Midwest Region
First Round Matchup: 4 seed Providence
Leading college basketball in most stats is a positive thing. Not necessarily for luck though. According to Pomeroy College Basketball Rankings, Providence is the luckiest team in the nation. This is pretty evident if you followed this team this team. They are an exciting team to watch but have questionable losses even with the luck. They lost twice to 2 seed Villanova and once against 9 seed Marquette. It is pretty easy to look at this team and see they may be seeded too high.
The Jackrabbits have an impressive 30-4 record with losses to a 6 seed Alabama, Washington, Idaho, and Missouri State. Additionally, all of these losses were early in the season. South Dakota State is on a 21-game win streak. One more time, 21-game winning streak! They have not lost since Dec 15 all the way back in 2021. The team has a pretty easy strength of schedule, but it is fact that teams make mistakes and slip up. Well, not South Dakota State since December. Sometimes, it is all about getting hot at the right time. It also must be noted that they have the 11th ranked offense in the nation. They have a sub-par defensive ranking but if they can score and shut down some of the Providence luck, they could be dancing on to the Round of 32.

Bonus Pick: Ohio State Buckeyes

7 Seed in South Region
First Round Matchup: 10 seed Loyola Chicago
Now you may be thinking, that is not an upset prediction. You are correct, in terms of seeding. Vegas seems to think this is a pick’em, or even favoring Loyola Chicago. Additionally, a pretty stiff majority of brackets are picking Loyola Chicago. It simply does not add up. Now there is a possibility of any team beating anybody but why is a mid-major team as a 10 seed favored over a Big 10 team.
Ohio State have been banged up and this is a concern, but they have recently knocked off Illinois and Michigan State, two tourney teams as the 4 seed and 7 seed respectively. The team also beat Duke and Wisconsin. They have poor losses as well but if you get a quality Ohio State team, they can play anyone hard. Do not overlook this team and regret jumping on the Loyola bandwagon.
Loyola Chicago has a new coach and have not been lights out. They have a decent year and then all of a sudden, come March, everyone joins the Loyola Chicago bandwagon. Yes, Sister Jean makes them fun to root for but stop with the Madness. I work of advice, pick Ohio State in the “upset” and take a lap around everyone once Loyola Chicago is forced to pack their bags after round one.

2021 March Madness Bracket found at: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/print/basketball-men/d1/2021?ko_click_id=ko_c6vewzrjt39l5ow7f