NCAA Tournament 2023: Top 10 most likely 1st round upsets to happen

5. 13 Louisiana over 4 Tennessee

The Ragin’ Cajuns are in the NCAA Tournament and have an advantageous first-round matchup to show off their skill. We’ll talk more about their opponent later, but this Louisiana team is good on offense and solid enough on defense. They won a tough road game at SMU back in November, though fared much worse against Texas a month later. How will Bob Marlin’s crew handle the spotlight of March Madness?

We’re high on the Ragin’ Cajuns because of the play of star and leading scorer Jordan Brown, a First Team All-Sun Belt player who was previously at Nevada with Eric Musselman and Arizona with Sean Miller. He’s found a home and his career has really taken off with Louisiana, averaging 19.4 points and 8.7 rebounds a game this season. Behind him, seniors Greg Williams and Terence Lewis can both score as well, with Williams sitting 40% from 3-point land and Lewis a strong rebounding forward.

Louisiana boasts a solid rotation and has taken care of business when it mattered most in winning the Sun Belt Tournament title, but their inclusion this high is just as much about their opponent. They’ll be heavy underdogs to the Volunteers, but it’s hard to get excited about a Tennessee team that’s won just five of their last 12 games and has just one win away from home since late January. Additionally, the Volunteers are missing point guard Zakai Zeigler while Louisiana has been healthy and are ready for this moment.