March Madness Sleepers: Opening Weekend

THIS. IS. MARCH. In my opinion, the three greatest words in sports. March Madness is a time where families come together, fights get broken up, arguments disputed, all problems cease to exist. Just to watch the three greatest weeks in the sports calendar year. And this year, no different from any other year, there will be a cinderella. Our job is to find out who it's going to be, so here we go. We're going to break down three unorthodox underdogs that have a good chance of pulling off the upset.
#14 Lipscomb vs. #3 Iowa State
Iowa State is just going through it right now. After a hot start to the season, in March, they have fallen cold just as they did last season. I was one of the fools to pick them to win the championship last season, and we won't make the same mistake this year. Also, Iowa State's star player Keshon Gilbert will be out for the tourney, so it's going to be tough to adjust playing without him. And finally, Lipscomb has one of the slowest pace of play in the country, and Iowa State likes to operate fast. If the Cyclones let the slow and diligent playstyle get to them, we could have an upset on our hands.
#15 Robert Morris vs. #2 Alabama
Alabama at its peak, is a national title contender. They just went to the Final Four last season, and they returned most of the core pieces from last season. But, they have a lot of flaws this season that we just didn't see last season, especially in March. Alabama has the tendency to turn the ball over a lot, at an astonishing 14.2% of the time. Also, they have been inconsistent both offensively and defensively at times, which could cause an early deficit against this Robert Morris team. It's March after all, and anything can happen.
#8 Gonzaga vs. #1 Houston
This game isn't even a first round matchup, which means both teams have to win in order for us to even get this matchup. This means it's our butts on the line if Gonzaga or Houston lose the first round, which hopefully shouldn't happen. But, when we look at this team Gonzaga, they have no flaws. They are ranked ninth in the NET, have the 9th ranked offense and the 29th ranked defense, have an overall fast pace of play, rarely turn the ball over, and they have Mark Few in March. When you combine all of these, you get a team that is going to upset a #1 Seed in March.