NCAA Tournament 2015: Upset Predictions for 2nd Round

You never know—2015 could finally be the year in which every higher-ranked team dispatches of every lower-ranked team in the NCAA tournament's round of 64. Until that day comes, though, we will keep picking upsets.  

The madness begins on Thursday, which means you've still got a little time left to fill out your bracket. In case you haven't yet, here are all of the bracket tools you need, followed by three upset picks that are 100 percent foolproof and couldn't possibly come back to bite you.

Seriously, though, pick these upsets. 

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No. 13 Eastern Washington over No. 4 Georgetown

Fred Beckham/Associated Press

Two words: Tyler Harvey.

The Eagles sophomore guard is the nation's leading scorer at 22.9 points per game, and he had 25 in November when Eastern Washington snapped Indiana's 42-game nonconference winning streak.

Harvey heads an offense that plays at a blistering pace, ranking third in the country with 80.8 points per game during the regular season. The Eagles knock down three-pointers in bunches.

Sam Vecenie of CBSSports.com also notes that Eastern Washington has a trusty big man in Venky Jois, which helps diversify its offense.

"Given their ability to score in a variety of different ways from a bunch of different sources—along with their ability to get hot from 3-point range, as they're probably one of the top three teams in the country at utilizing it—this is a solid candidate for an upset," Vecenie wrote.

The Hoyas also have a penchant for coming out on the wrong end of upsets. In four of their last five tourney trips, they've been eliminated by a double-digit seed.

Georgetown beat Villanova and Indiana early in the season, but the Hoyas have been rather inconsistent, losing to Providence (twice) and Xavier (twice), most recently in the Big East semifinals. 

Harvey and friends will be unfazed by the generously seeded Hoyas and knock them off with a relentless shooting attack.

No. 13 Valparaiso over No. 4 Maryland

DARRELL HOEMANN/Associated Press

Maryland has won 10 of its 11 contests this season decided by six points or fewer. That's obviously not all a function of luck, but the Terps are considered the second-luckiest team in the nation by Ken Pomeroy's rankings. 

To be fair, the Terps are certainly the more talented team in this matchup. But Valparaiso plays great defense, particularly in the interior. Combine that with the Crusaders' rebounding advantage over Maryland and their 38 percent mark from three-point range, and this could make for a thriller.

Sophomore forward Alec Peters will be the Terps' greatest concern. He leads Valparaiso in points (16.7), rebounds (6.8), three-point percentage (46.2) and free-throw percentage (84.1).

Perhaps the biggest concern for the Crusaders is that they haven't played a team ranked better than 66th this season. They went 28-5 and cruised to the Horizon League title to punch their ticket. 

No. 13 UC Irvine over No. 4 Louisville

Rick Scuteri/Associated Press

The Cardinals rely on inside scoring. The Anteaters rely on 7'6" center Mamadou Ndiaye. That combination could cause problems for Louisville.

Per Neil Greenberg of The Washington Post:

"

A big presence like Ndiaye has helped keep opponents to a 42.3 percent field-goal percentage on two-point shots, 16th best among college teams. That could spell trouble for a Louisville offense that ranks just 95th in offensive efficiency, the worst major-conference mark in the tournament.

"

UC Irvine puts Ndiaye in the middle of its 2-3 zone defense. And he's not half-bad handling the rock, either: 

Louisville has four players who do the majority of their scoring in Terry Rozier, Montrezl Harrell, Chris Jones and Wayne Blackshear. The Cardinals shoot just 30 percent on three-pointers, but those four are adept at scoring inside and will seek ways to overcome Ndiaye's presence. It won't be easy.

"I'm just not sure how the Cardinals are going to get efficient scoring opportunities in this game, Vecenie writes. "That, along with the Anteaters' ability to bomb away from deep, should at least keep them in it the majority of the way."