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

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have made their first NCAA tourney since the 1990-1991 season. They will be a 10 seed and take on Clemson as a 7 seed. This Scarlet Knights squad got there with their defense. With the Scarlet Knights ranking 18th on adjusted defense they will be able to slow down Clemson to rank 99th in offense.

But Clemson is a pretty good defensive team as well. They rank 20th in adjusted defense and really pressure you in the half-court. With both teams having much better defense than offenses and prefer to play at a slow tempo this should be a pretty low-scoring game. A place where Rutgers can take advantage of Clemson is forcing turnovers.

In league play, Rutgers had the 2nd highest turnover percentage in league play where Clemson was 11th in the ACC in offensive turnover percentage in league play. Rutgers should be able to take advantage and turn those steals into some easy points. The most important player for the Scarlet Knights is Ron Harper Jr who scores 15.4 points per game and was named 3rd team All-Big Ten.

Myles Johnson is a quality defender averaging 2.5 blocks per game. He made the Big Ten all-defensive team. Overall, this Rutgers team is extremely well-coached, tough, and should be able to knock off Clemson.