4 Best Round of 64 Upset Picks for the 2019 NCAA Men’s Tournament

• The 2019 NCAA Men’s Tournament Round of 64 begins Thursday, March 21
• The first round of the tournament is always littered with upsets
• Which upsets should you be counting on this year?

The 2019 NCAA Men’s Tournament Round of 64 gets started on Thursday, March 21 at 12:15pm ET. But before you go filling out your March Madness bracket, here are some first-round upsets you’ll want to consider.

(14) Yale Over (3) LSU

The Bulldogs are a trendy pick to pull the upset for one major reason: The stink of the FBI investigation is surrounding the Tigers.

Yale vs LSU Odds

*All odds taken March 19

LSU is without its coach, Will Wade, who is suspended after being wiretapped by the feds. The Bayou Bengals were the top seed in the SEC tourney and still lost their first game to 8th seeded Florida.

Historically, teams that lose in the first game of their conference tournament, but make an at-large bid, fare extremely poorly.

LSU has NBA talent, but it doesn’t have its coach and come in after an early league exit. Look at the defensive ranking for LSU: 222nd. That’s the type of stat that can kill a major conference team.

I’m taking the Yalies to pull the upset.

(12) Murray State Over (5) Marquette

The most exciting, energizing, incredible player in the tourney outside of Zion? Murray State’s Ja Morant.

Murray State vs Marquette Odds

He’s a high-flying, spider-like acrobat with the ball, and anytime he touches it, he can do special things. He’s ready for his closeup, and the Racers will follow his lead.

Marquette is also extremely sloppy with the ball, averaging 15 turnovers/game over its last four in the regular season. Murray State is actually 50 spots higher than Marquette in the scoring defense metrics.

The Racers will force turnovers, and that will haunt Marquette.

(14) Northern Kentucky Over (3) Texas Tech

The Raiders are again a victim of losing in its first game of the league tournament. Texas Tech was the two-seed in the Big 12 and yet lost to the 10th-seeded Mountaineers 79-74.

Northern Kentucky vs Texas Tech Odds

Chris Beard did a great job, especially creating a great defense, but the Raiders have no momentum to come into the tourney with, despite winning nine straight to end the regular season.

NKU is the best shooting team from deep in the Horizon League; watch for them to knock down some deep threes late to steal a Cinderella win.

The stats aren’t pretty for NKU in this matchup, but Tech needs to drum up juice or it’ll get stagnant and the pressure will mount.

(12) Liberty Over (5) Mississippi State

There’s almost always a 5-12 upset, so how about the Flames?

Liberty vs Mississippi State Odds

Back in December, Liberty took out UCLA in impressive fashion, and the offense has balance across the board.

Look at their defense: Sixth in the nation in defensive scoring. A bad omen for Mississippi State, they’re turnover prone.

Compare that to the Bulldogs, who rank 148th in scoring defense, and you’ve got a huge advantage for the Flames.

And the list of conference wins for MSST is unimpressive. Auburn is their best SEC victory. A late dagger seals a win for Liberty.