Five potential first-round upsets in the men's NCAA Tournament

"March Madness" is here, and with the announcement of this year's brackets, the attention turns to which underdogs might sneak into the second round. 

With that in mind, here are five potential upsets for round one of the NCAA Tournament. 

No. 12 McNeese State (30-3, 17-1) over No. 5 Gonzaga (15-7, 14-2) | Midwest Region | A recent study by Dartmouth revealed a few constants in first-round tournament upsets — success from beyond the arc is one of them. That's good news for a McNeese State team that ranked eighth in the nation in three-point percentage (.388) this season. 

After a strong season, the Southland Conference champions earned the right to be a trendy pick to win after suffering only three losses while posting noteworthy road victories over VCU, UAB and Michigan. 

Meanwhile, Gonzaga enters as the No. 5 seed, their lowest since 2016, and might even be underdogs against the Cowboys. 

No. 12 James Madison (31-3, 15-3) over No. 5 Wisconsin (22-13, 11-9) | South Region | The Sun Belt Tournament champions enter the tournament on a roll, winning 13 straight ahead of a matchup with the Badgers. Meanwhile, Wisconsin has lost nine of the last 15 games and is seemingly ripe for the picking.

Amid the best season in program history, continuing it with a first-round upset could be in the cards. JMU boasted the ninth-highest scoring offense (84.4 PPG) in the nation, which could prove challenging for a Wisconsin team that's solid on defense (69.3 PPG). 

No. 11 NC State (22-14, 9-11) over No. 6 Texas Tech (23-10, 11-7) | South Region | After becoming only the second team ever to win a conference title by winning five games in five days, NC State has a Cinderella team written all over it. The ACC Tournament champions battled through ups and downs all season but are seemingly catching fire at the right time behind the dynamic pairing of DJ Burns and DJ Horne. 

Texas Tech is no slouch, having earned wins over No. 20 BYU (twice), No. 16 Kansas and No. 14 Baylor. However, during NC State's miraculous recent run, they've knocked off No. 11 Duke and No. 4 North Carolina and seem primed for a potential deep run.  

No. 11 Duquesne (23-11, 10-8) over No. 6 BYU (23-10, 10-8) | East Region | The A-10 Conference Tournament Champions face a tall task against BYU, but boasting one of the nation's stingiest defenses gives them an excellent shot. Duquesne allowed 66.5 points per game this season (34th), which they'll need against a Cougars squad that posted 81.8 PPG (20th). 

Duquesne will need an offense that mustered only 71.2 PPG to step up if they hope to pull off the upset against a very game BYU squad. However, after such a miraculous run to clinch the program's tournament berth since 1977, anything is possible. 

No 10. Drake over No. 7 Washington State (24-9, 14-6) | East Region | Drake comes in as the hotter team, having won five straight, including the MVC Tournament championship over Indiana State. Meanwhile, Washington State enters sluggishly, going 3-3 over the last six games, fresh off a loss to Colorado in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. 

Much like Duquesne, Drake hopes a defense that allowed only 70.5 PPG against will make the difference. However, unlike the Dukes, the Bulldogs boast a deadly offense, posting 80.5 PPG, ranked 35th in the nation.