March Madness 2022: Predicting every First Round upset in the NCAA Tournament

7. Potential March Madness upsets – Midwest Region: No. 13 South Dakota State over No. 4 Providence

Our first of three potential 4-13 upsets falls here as we look at South Dakota State against Providence. The 4-13 matchup has become more upset prone of late with 13-seeds posting a 5-7 record against 4-seeds in the past three tournaments, including wins out of Ohio against Virginia and North Texas in overtime against Purdue last year.

One of the most fun 13-seeds in this year’s field is South Dakota State, the Summit League champions who went 30-4 during the regular season. The Jackrabbits are one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, averaging 86.4 points per game and shooting a ridiculous 44.9 percent from three-point range.

This matchup is a contrast in styles as Providence likes to slow things down and play excellent team defense. The Friars did a good job winning the Big East’s regular-season title but have stumbled down the stretch, getting swept by Villanova and blown out by Creighton in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament.

Ed Cooley’s team has had a few fortunate results, such as beating Wisconsin without Johnny Davis and UCONN without Adama Sanogo, and tends to play very close games. That formula is very dangerous to play against a South Dakota State team that can put the ball in the basket at will.