NCAA Tournament 2021: 5 sleeper teams that can make a deep run
By Tobias Bass
The NCAA Tournament this year is wide-open. It could be anyone’s year. Outside of Gonzaga, Baylor, and Illinois, there is a lot of potential chaos and unpredictability with the rest of the field. I expect there will be a lot of upsets this weekend with certain teams not having all their players to practice, injuries and matchups.
LSU (18-9)
The 8th seed LSU Tigers turned a lot of heads in the SEC tournament by taking Alabama to the final seconds in the SEC championship game before falling short. The Tigers are a tough matchup. They play a lot of isolation ball as they have three pros in Cam Thomas, Javonte Smart, and Trendon Watford.
Most teams don’t have three solid defensive players and when these three are making shots look out! If the game is close Will Wade has guys he can lean on to make clutch shots. The X-factor on their team is Darius Days, when he scores 10 points or more the Tigers are 18-1. If Coach Wade can get his team to guard consistently and play the game not the occasion I like their chances.
They have a tough game against a well-coached St. Bonaventure team, but if they can get past them and go up against a potential injured Michigan team without Isaiah Livers I smell a potential upset.
Ohio (16-7)
At least one No.13 seed has beaten a No. 4 seed in 25 of 35 years. This Saturday the Ohio Bobcats will upset the Virginia Cavaliers. The Bobcats have six guys that score in double figures and are an outstanding three-point shooting team at 36.6 percent. They run good offense, making over 62 percent of their shots at the rim, and have three guys that average over three APG.
Ohio is led by star-guard Jason Preston who is averaging 16.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 7.2 APG. The 6-foot-4 Guard has an assist percentage of 37.9 which ranks tenth in the nation. Preston won’t be sped up against the stingy Virginia defense and will make key plays let to secure the win.
This will be a tough matchup for Virginia, especially as they are under the Covid-19 protocol and I’m calling upset. Virginia doesn’t like to play in transition. If Preston can dictate the pace and get the Cavaliers to play out of character, Ohio will advance to the second round for the first time since 2012.