Jay Bilas explains if Wisconsin is on upset alert against Montana
ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas is predicting the No. 3-seed Wisconsin Badgers to have little trouble defeating the No. 14-seed Montana Grizzlies in Thursday's NCAA Tournament first round.
In an article that outlined Bilas' pick for every game in the tournament, the prominent analyst put Wisconsin's 'potential for upset' at 'low,' citing the team's ability to bounce back after a tough Big Ten Tournament ending.
"Wisconsin will have an edge after struggling against Michigan in the Big Ten title game," Bilas explained.
The sentiment appears to be shared universally: Wisconsin enters Thursday's tournament opener as the much better team, without many reasons it should struggle. The discrepancy in KenPom ranking between the two teams (No. 13 vs. No. 157), further outlines the mismatch in quality, as does their divergent positions in ESPN's BPI (No. 18 vs. No. 173).
Of course, this is March. The tournament creates upsets that nobody, not even the highest-profile analysts and bracketologists, can see coming.
Wisconsin will hope to avoid joining that list of 14-over-3 upsets when it tips off against Montana at 1:30 p.m. ET, 12:30 p.m. CT on Thursday afternoon. With a win, the Badgers would face the winner of No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 VCU on Saturday.
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Wisconsin basketball NCAA Tournament Montana preview Jay Bilas pick
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