NCAA Tournament 2013 Upsets: Surprise Picks That Could Win Your Office Pool

The chances of picking a perfect bracket (printable version here) for the 2013 NCAA Tournament for this year are approximately one in 9.2 quintillion.

Or one in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808, for the math nerds among us.

Suffice to say, picking a perfect bracket this year is definitely not in the cards for you, or anyone in your office pool. Period.

However, the chances of you winning your office pool and finishing with the best bracket out of everyone are significantly better than those mentioned before. And if you follow these surprise picks to give you an edge on the rest of your colleagues, those odds could be even higher.

Read on to find the surprise picks in March Madness this year you must have in order to dominate your office pool.

Minnesota (vs. UCLA, South Region)

UCLA will head into this game as favorites, but it's hard to go past Minnesota getting the job done—particularly given that Jordan Adams is out. That will leave the higher seed, UCLA, with just Shabazz Muhammad as their offensive weapon—playing into the hands of the Gophers.

The Gophers are a strong team that took down Indiana during the year, with talent on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. As long as they can eliminate the inconsistencies that sometimes creep into their play, they should be good for a third-round berth.

Davidson (vs. Marquette, East Region)

Davidson is being touted by many as a potential upset candidate in the second round of the tournament this year, but only that—a candidate. The reality is that the Wildcats have a huge chance at winning this one against the No. 3 seed, and are a definite surprise pick to have.

The Wildcats come into the tournament on the back of 17 straight wins—yes, 17 straight wins—and carry plenty of momentum with them as a result.

Moreover, they average better than a point per possession in 2013 and have pretty much the same team on hand as they did when they beat Kansas City in Kansas. Look for Davidson to step up here and triumph over the Golden Eagles with a huge victory on the night.

Ole Miss (vs. Wisconsin, West Region)

If you take away Marshall Henderson, the Ole Miss Rebels will struggle on offense and they probably won't come close to beating Wisconsin in the Round of 64. However, taking away Henderson isn't an easy thing to do, as Mississippi's more recent opponents can attest to.

He'll be looking for another big night here, and can be expected to have one—leading the Rebels well against a very strong Wisconsin defensive unit. 

The Badgers play a very strong, suffocating style of defense, which normally works against most teams, but not when they're as hot as the Rebels are.

Especially not when Henderson is hitting his shots from everywhere on the court and giving Mississippi plenty of self-belief and confidence.

The Rebels didn't win the SEC and their last five games against good teams by luck—they won them because they were simply the better team. 

Their current form makes them a tough team to go against, and sees them emerge as a great surprise selection in the opening rounds of the tournament.

Click here to download your printable 2013 March Madness bracket, or follow our live bracket of the 2013 NCAA tournament here. 

Follow all the exciting NCAA Tournament action with March Madness Live.

What are your surprise picks for the 2013 NCAA Tournament?

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