Will the Blue Raiders Pull off the Upset?
By: Rickey Fuquay, Jr.
MILWAUKEE, WIS. - Middle Tennessee and Minnesota will meet in the First Round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Tipoff from BMO Harris Bradley Center is set for 3 p.m. and will air nationally on TNT.
MTSU is making their second straight appearance in the Big Dance after topping the Marshall Thundering Herd 83 to 72 in the 2017 Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship at Legacy Arena on Saturday, March 11, 2017.
On the other hand, Minnesota managed to make the cut for the first time since 2013 despite losing to Michigan, the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Champion, in the semifinals of the 2017 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament by a final score of 84 to 77 at the Verizon Center on Saturday, March 11, 2017.
Here are three reasons why the Blue Raiders will shock another Big Ten school.
A No. 12 seed have knocked off the No. 5 seed eight of the last nine years.
The Blue Raiders have won 10 straight and 20 out of their last 21 games since their last loss to Texas-El Paso by a final score of 57 to 54 on Saturday, February 4, 2017 at Don Haskins Center.
Despite the fact that the Blue Raiders are 1-4 against the Golden Gophers, Head Coach Kermit Davis is 4-1 against Head Coach Richard Pitino dating back to the Sun Belt Conference days when Pitino was the head coach at Florida International. I don't think Minnesota will have the answer to handle our Big 3 (Giddy Potts, Reggie Upshaw and JaCorey Williams).
