Seth Davis puts Kansas on upset alert in NCAA tournament, predicts loss to Samford

Selection Sunday is one of the most exciting days of the sports year, as the field has been officially set for the round of 64 ahead of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

For this year’s tournament, the Midwest Region provides a ton of exciting matchups with intriguing upset potential. And with that in mind, college basketball analyst Seth Davis did not waste any time in forecasting some madness in March for the Midwest. Predicting two upsets on the CBS NCAA Men’s Basketball Selection Show on Sunday, which includes a notable first-round exit from one of college basketball’s blue-bloods.

“This is the part of the show where I light myself on fire. Because I have McNeese over Gonzaga and you ready? Samford takes down Kansas,” Davis said. “You mention the injuries to Kansas, they were already not a deep team. Samford is an up-and-down team, they play 10 guys, and the game is in Salt Lake City where altitude is a factor.”

No. 12-seeded McNeese State pulling out a first-round win over Gonzaga could end up being a trendy pick on a lot of brackets in this year’s tournament. With the Cowboys representing one of the very few teams in the nation that achieved 30 wins this season following an impressive 30-3 finish capped off with a dominant Southland Conference Tournament run and victory.

But Kansas falling as the No. 4 seed to No. 13 Samford could surely bust a lot of brackets as well, and would also represent the Jayhawks’ first exit in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament since 2006 when they fell to Bradley. A matchup that also featured Kansas as a No. 4 seed.

Davis does present an important point about the health of the Jayhawks, who lost in their very first game of the Big 12 Tournament to conference newcomer Cincinnati 72-52. Playing without star players Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar due to injuries.

There’s no question that Kansas is not quite the same without Dickinson and McCullar on the floor, but could they survive against Samford without one or both of their key impact players?

The Bulldogs boast the No. 5 scoring offense in the nation averaging 86 points per game this season. Fresh off of an impressive run in the Southern Conference Tournament that placed them in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.

Samford will surely be motivated and Kansas may be undermanned in a first-round matchup that tips off on March 21 in Salt Lake City.