No. 12 Middle Tennessee Delivers First Upset of March Madness

Anyone? Anyone at all? Their momentum carried into the Conference USA tournament, in which they dominated. But the Blue Raiders have established themselves as a unsafe mid-major team after beating Michigan State and Minnesota in the first round in back-to-back years in the tournament. Curry was the only one of the four who scored a point. If that’s what it was.

However, the Bulldogs are 8-1 SU and ATS in their past nine when favored by four or fewer points and unbeaten SU and ATS in two past tournament dates with No. 12 seeds. “There’s a lot of potential in this locker room for next year”. Thursday, with the final 81-72, it was a calm pond. “We have to play the way we’re going to play either way”. It’s quieter this year.

“So what alarmed us was, what do we have to do next year or the year after?”

No. 11 Xavier also will be battling for a Sweet Sixteen berth when it takes on No. 3 Florida State as a six-point underdog. “The only way to actually get success is to win”.

Freshman Kevin Huerter led the Terps with 19 points while star guard Melo Trimble had 13 points, but made only one-third of his shots. Somewhere, old Michigan State Spartan Denzel Valentine must have had flashbacks to 2016.

Middle Tennessee didn’t pull off your typical 5-12 upset. “If I get beat in the paint or they get beat, they are there to help”. Coach Chris Holtmann’s eight-man rotation doesn’t have a single player who hasn’t had a major impact on multiple games. The obvious difference between Johnson and Potts is their size. We might not know what to call it. Of course it should be mentioned last year’s eight win team wasn’t that bad (injuries, suspensions), but the turnaround by Richard Pitino has been impressive to say the least. “They’re both very, very skilled”.

An ironic match it will be.

“We think we belong on a national stage”, said coach Kermit Davis, who is in his 15th season leading MTSU. In Jordan Majewski’s preview of the Winthrop-Butler game he described the Bulldogs’ front court best.

Meanwhile, remember when Butler was its own cuddly fantasy story? This is the highest seed for Butler in program history. They shocked everyone by defeating Charlotte, Old Dominion and UTEP to go the conference tournament championship where they lost to UAB, the host of the tournament. Hanging in the balance is a spot in the Sweet 16.

But things have worked out well for Butler thus far. Sure, every team plays hard in March, but the Raiders’ physicality and toughness is something to behold. “But we love it”.

Middle Tennessee will have plenty of offensive options, but they’re facing one of the top defensive units they’ll see this year. “I’ll take away that”. “My biggest goal was trying to get our program to be like Butler”. It should be known that.

The 12 seeds had a down year in the NCAA Tournament’s opening round.

Butler also made 9 of 10 free throws in the final three minutes to put the game away. This tournament team wasn’t supposed to look like last year’s bunch. Those are the kinds of opportunities that could be in store for Middle Tennessee with one more victory.

Not with the best winning percentage for any team in the nation not named Gonzaga or Villanova.

“Any time we thought we’d get this thing to four or get it to two possessions, somebody hit a big 3 or they got a putback”, Brey said. “Some of the teams respect us now”. They have all the confidence in the world while on this win streak, especially with covering in their last five.