You're always guaranteed to get plenty of top seeds going down in the early rounds of the Big Dance. It's what makes the tournament one of the most fun months of the sporting year. You have to admit that you would rather see your bracket go up in flames as a result of an entertaining upset rather than having all the favorites win every game.
As soon as the field was announced, there were teams across the country placed on the proverbial upset alert. There are so many teams with flaws that it's hard to definitively say that any one squad is untouchable.
With some very intriguing games on Friday's slate, fans don't have to worry about whether the day will lack plenty of top seeds going down. The alarm bells are going to be ringing for these three games.
The Wisconsin Badgers built their success around strong defense all season. They only surrendered 55.9 points per game, ninth in the country. Wisconsin's games weren't a whole lot of fun to watch, but it's hard to argue that Bo Ryan's style hasn't been very successful.
It's as if the selection committee wanted to counter the mechanical, methodical approach of the Badgers with the unpredictability of Marshall Henderson. Call him a troll, a showboat, whatever. Just don't call him a bad basketball player.
Henderson will get his shots, whether Wisconsin gives him good looks or not. He's got the kind of attitude and work rate that is infectious for his teammates. It was Henderson's swagger that helped to get Ole Miss back in the game against the Florida Gators in the SEC tournament.
With Henderson and Murphy Holloway, the Rebels have the kind of offensive players who can provide the spark to slowly knock away at the Badgers stifling defense.
You have to wonder what exactly the selection committee was doing matching up the UNLV Rebels and California Golden Bears for the second time this season and giving the Golden Bears a much easier road trip. It's roughly an hour from Berkeley, Calif., to San Jose, which is about seven hours fewer than the Rebels will have to travel.
Cal only lost by a point when these two teams met back in December. The Golden Bears will have been watching that performance over and over again, eagerly anticipated the rematch.
The Golden Bears didn't shoot a ton of three-pointers, but that shouldn't be a problem against a UNLV team that was also only 33.0 percent from three-point range itself.
Allen Crabbe has a lot to prove in this game. He's underwhelmed in the Golden Bears' last two postseason exits. Crabbe is the kind of scorer who can take this game over.
The La Salle Explorers only managed to sneak into the tournament on the strength of an 80-71 win over the Boise State Broncos in the first round. While that may have only been one game, the Explorers needed to get their feet wet considering this is the school's first tournament appearance since 1992.
That inexperience could prove to be La Salle's downfall. On the flip side, there's something to be said for a team not burdened with expectations and previous disappointments.
The Explorers have solid guards in Ramon Galloway and Tyreek Duren who play off each other very well. Duren did struggle during the win against Boise State, but he shot 48.9 percent from the field during the season. And Galloway was the three-point specialist, going 40.5 percent from behind the arc.
The Kansas State Wildcats are a team that doesn't make the most of its trips to the free-throw line. The Wildcats weren't able to get to the line very much, and when they did, they only converted 68.9 percent of the time. As a favorite, Kansas State doesn't want to do anything to keep La Salle in this game. Missing free throws would do exactly that.
Don't forget to download your printable NCAA tournament bracket and follow the results with Bleacher Report's live bracket.
Via: [Soccer Live] Algeria - Benin - FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifying
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