The wait is finally over, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament returns on Thursday afternoon with the beginning of the Round of 64. As of Thursday, each of the tournament’s 64 teams still has national championship hopes. By the end of Friday, that number will dwindle down to just 32 and by the end of the weekend, a mere 16 teams.
It’s easy to predict that most of the teams that will find themselves moving on to this weekend will be rather highly ranked seeds, mostly within the top 10. That being said, there will always be upsets and surprises.
While it’s improbable we see a No. 16 seed knock off a No. 1 seed, there does stand a chance we see a No. 2 seed lose to a No. 15 seed. While still unlikely, ten No. 15 seeds all-time have moved onto the Round of 32 all-time including St. Peter’s in 2022.
Additionally, 31 No.3 seeds have been upset by No. 14 seeds while 53 No. 12 seeds have moved into the first weekend all time. Ultimately, there’s a strong chance that we see at least one or two, No. 12, No. 13, or No. 14 seeds win in the Round of 64 of this year’s NCAA Tournament. That’s the easy part, the hard part, however, is predicting which higher-ranked seeds will be the ones going home early.
We take a look at five teams that could be on upset alert on Thursday and why their opponents could begin a potential Cinderella run.