2015 NCAA Tournament: Top 10 Possible First-Round Upsets
By Jacob Rude
Mar 8, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Northern Iowa Panthers guard Deon Mitchell (1) drives to the basket between Illinois State Redbirds forward MiKyle McIntosh (11) and guard Paris Lee (1) during second half in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference basketball tournament at Scotttrade Center. Northern Iowa Panthers won 60-69. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
3. (12) Wyoming vs. (5) Northern Iowa, East Region
Why This Upset Will Happen: The Wyoming Cowboys put bubble teams on life-alert by stealing a bid and going dancing. Behind stud forward Larry Nance Jr., the Cowboys are going to be a force to be reckoned with. Against a “grounded” Northern Iowa team, his athleticism will overwhelm them.
Wyoming won’t be unfamiliar to the slow-down pace by the Panthers of Northern Iowa as they rank 345th in possessions per game, four spots ahead of Northern Iowa.
Why This Upset Won’t Happen: My first impression upon seeing the bracket is that this seed was pretty low for the Panthers. They lost three games all year, and two of those came to tournament teams in Wichita State and VCU. This is a team high on confidence and skill. They sit 10th in effective field goal percentage, 13th in three-point shooting percentage, and are set up for a deep tournament run in this wide-open East region.
Next: Georgia State vs. Baylor