NCAA Tournament 2021: 10 lower-digit seeds capable of pulling an upset

Syracuse Orange

Syracuse 16-9 surprised a lot of people by getting into the field as an 11 seed. They will be talking on San Diego State in a 6-11 game. Syracuse is surprisingly better on the offensive side of the ball compared to the defensive side ranking 22nd in offensive efficiency and 89 in defensive efficiency.

They take on a pretty good San Deigo State team that is currently ranked 16th in the country and have won an impressive 14 games in a row. San Diego State is an excellent defensive team ranking 11th in the country in Kenpom’s defensive efficiency. But with San Diego State playing a pack-line defense they give up a ton of threes.

Syracuse has three very confident shooters in Buddy Boeheim coach Jim Boeheim’s son, Alan Griffin and Joseph Giradi. The three of them take a combined 18 threes per game with Boeheim and Griffin shooting a solid percentage at 37.3 and 36.9 percent. Those three will have plenty of opportunities to shoot and if either one of them gets hot like Boeheim when he went 6-10 from three against San Diego State. Then Syracuse will have an excellent shot to pull the upset.

Plus, having a veteran coach like Boeheim helps in the tournament. He’s been to 35 NCAA tournaments, made 5 final fours, and has won a National Championship. Recently, Syracuse has gone on two deep runs in the tournament when they have been a double-digit seed. They have a chance to win this game as well.