NCCA Upsets: Belmont Nearly Did It, So Who Else Can?

In case you missed it, Belmont just lost one of the closest games I've ever seen, 71-70, to the hated Duke Blue Devils.

They hustled as if their lives were on the line, and in the end, one bad pass sealed the deal. I became a Belmont fan in under two minutes after seeing them dive after every loose ball, hustle on every play, fight for position on every missed shot.

Screwed bracket or not, I was almost wishing Belmont to win.

And in the end, it doesn't matter. Duke wins like always, barely avoiding two straight First Round bumps. But the best game so far showed promise, after embarrassing blowouts like No. 13 seeded Winthrop to No. 4 seed Washington State. If a team everyone through aside as an easy win for Duke can nearly pull off a miracle upset, who else can? Let's look at the upcoming games.  

No. 11 St. Josephs vs. No. 6 Oklahoma

Remember Saint Joseph’s? The team that was a No. 1 NCAA tournament seed four years ago. Even made it to the regional final. Well, the Hawks are back—but with an extra “one” in the seed. The Sooner (22-11) and the Hawks (21-12) are ready to duke it out, no pun intended. The game changer here could be Pat Calathes, who's averaged 17.8 PPG and 7.5 RPG while leading St. Josephs. This game reeks of upset-potential.

 No. 12 Villanova vs. No. 5 Clemson

Sure Clemson (24-9) beat a heavily favored Duke team in the ACC semi-finals. Sure Villanova (20-12) was one of the last teams to get an at-large bid. Look at the history though. No program has recorded more upsets in the NCAA tournament than Villanova, which has 12 wins as a lower-seeded team since 1979. Another thing going against Clemson is that this is their first tournament appearance since 1998, which means none of their players have ever experienced the joy of March Madness. Chalk up inexperience as the reason 'Nova pulls off the upset.

 No. 12 West Kentucky vs. No. 5 Drake

Many experts have been picking the Drake Bulldogs to go far in their bracket, but first they'll have a tough test against West Kentucky.In addition to winning the MVC regular season and conference tournament titles, Drake had a 21-game winning streak that propelled the Bulldogs into the Top 25 for the first time since the last three weeks of the 1974-75 season. But Western Kentucky is 27-6, and has a deadly shooter in Courtney Lee, who is averaging 20.4 PPG for the hilltoppers. Watch out for this game.