March Madness 2015: Early Bracket Busters and Scores for NCAA Tournament

With the four play-in games now complete, the field for the NCAA tournament's round of 64 has finally come to fruition. Rest assured, there will be upsets.

Each and every year, the second round of the Big Dance comes equipped with some unexpected results. There always seems to be a No. 12 seed that takes down a No. 5 seed—that happened three times in 2014—and other similar bracket-busting conclusions. That's the epitome of March Madness after all.

Analyzing the field and deciding which games have the biggest tendency for an upset is a necessity to get your bracket off to a good start. So, before you Sharpie in your projected winners, let's take a look at a few examples of early bracket-busting contests and their respective score predictions.

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Upset Predictions

No. 10 Davidson over No. 7 Iowa

It would be wrong to sleep on Davidson's backcourt against the Hawkeyes in Round 2. Iowa has a strong frontcourt and can dominate in the paint; however, the Wildcats utilize a small starting rotation chock-full of sharpshooting guards capable of knocking down buckets from the perimeter.

Guards Tyler Kalinoski, Jack Gibbs, Ben Sullivan and Jordan Barham have proved to be extremely difficult to control for opposing defenses. They are highly athletic, quick in transition and aren't afraid to take chances from downtown.

Even when one guard struggles, the rest have been able to pick up the slack. Such was the case in a recent loss to VCU, as Sullivan went just 2-of-10 from the floor, but the other three combined for 55 points. With that kind of talent residing on the perimeter, the larger Hawkeyes defense will be severely tested.

Expect Davidson to accumulate significant points against an Iowa team that has been extremely inconsistent on the offensive end of the court, recently shooting just 26.3 percent from the floor in a loss to Penn State in the Big Ten tournament.

Prediction: Davidson 73, Iowa 65

No. 12 Buffalo over No. 5 West Virginia

Buffalo is a sneaky Round 2 pick over West Virginia. The Bulls enter the NCAA tournament riding an eight-game winning streak thanks to a very potent offense that has caught fire at the right time, scoring at least 68 points in each contest over that span.

A versatile and well-rounded offense is the reason why the Bulls are the pick here. While forward Justin Moss has been phenomenal inside and Shannon Evans has flourished on the perimeter, the team's starting five all have the ability to put up points. That was exactly the case during Buffalo's 89-84 victory over Central Michigan for the MAC title, as all five Bulls starters scored double-digit points.

West Virginia has a very prolific offense of its own; however, the team has been without top-scoring guard Juwan Staten due to a knee injury and has been inconsistent as a result. While Staten will return against Buffalo, and has seemingly looked good in practice, the rust factor must be taken into consideration here, as he hasn't played since February.

While the Mountaineers will surely receive a boost from Staten's return to the starting lineup, how effective he'll be is unknown. Meanwhile, the Bulls have been playing with plenty of chemistry and have plenty of confidence and momentum built up for the Big Dance.

Prediction: Buffalo 71, West Virginia 68

No. 11 Texas over No. 6 Butler

This should be a compelling defensive matchup, as both Butler and Texas flourished due to stout play on that end of the court this season. Although, what these teams have been able to accomplish defensively is night and day.

Butler may have the 49th-ranked defense, but it is a below-average rebounding team that features a small rotation incapable of accumulating blocks. Meanwhile, Texas boasts the 39th-ranked defense, is one of the nation's best rebounding teams on both ends of the court and is ranked first in blocks per game. Rest assured, the Bulldogs will have problems scoring on the Longhorns' big starting five.

With a frontcourt trio that measures in at 6'9", 6'9" and 6'8", Texas routinely controls the inside against smaller teams. That will be the case against Butler, as only forward Kameron Woods matches up in terms of size for the Bulldogs. If Butler can't get anything going from downtown—much like the team's 7-of-24 showing in the Big East tournament against Xavier—it will have trouble accumulating sufficient points.

Texas isn't a one-trick pony, either. Not only does the team have a solid frontcourt, but it has a nice guard rotation featuring Isaiah Taylor that can keep defenses honest with good perimeter shooting. Expect a well-rounded Longhorns team to emerge victorious in this one.

Prediction: Texas 63, Butler 60