Surprise! Lower seeds may produce high drama during NCAA Tournament games at the Arena

What’s wrong, Spokane basketball fans – worried that you’re not getting enough bang for the 450 bucks you paid for a seat at this week’s NCAA Tournament games at the Arena?

Yes, it’s true that Spokane will host no blue-blood programs or high seeds. There will be Bulldogs and Cougars, but not the ones you were hoping for.

But if there’s one thing that puts the Madness in March, it’s surprises, and few teams have the potential to surprise like the eight that will fill the Arena floor on Friday.

The odds are already on Spokane’s side. Sellout crowds will watch No. 4 seeds taking on 13s, and No. 5s battling 12s.

Throughout NCAA Tournament history, no other pairings have the capacity to surprise.

In the past 36 years, No. 13 seeds have won 31 times against 4 seeds. Twelve seeds have fared even better; Since the field expanded in 1985, they’ve beaten the No. 5 seed 52 times.

“It’s about matchups and who’s playing well, so there are no upsets in the tournament,” San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher said this week. “The hot hand wins in this thing.”

Dutcher should know.

Last year, he led the Aztecs to the national title game as a No. 5 seed. Now they’re back – again as a No. 5 seed with a record of 24-10 – and opening Friday’s action at 10:45 a.m. against 12th-seeded UAB.

The UAB Blazers (23-11), one of three teams from Alabama making the trip to Spokane, have already surprised folks. Last week, they won the American Athletic Conference Tournament in shocking fashion.

Can they do it again? If so, it will be on the back of junior forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who should make the all-name NCAA team in addition to being named the AAC’s Defensive Player of the Year. Lendeborg averages a double-double of 13.9 points and 10.7 rebounds per game.

The next matchup is just as intriguing. The Southeastern Conference Tournament champion Auburn Tigers (27-7) are bracketologists’ favorite to make a deep run this month.

But don’t count out No. 13 seed Yale (22-9), which won the Ivy League Tournament on a last-second shot. Auburn had better count on shutting down Yale guard Austin Mahoney, who is hitting 59% from long range in the past nine games.

Want another surprise? The Spokane field includes football-crazy Alabama and Auburn, but Yale has more national titles with 27.

The afternoon session follows with No. 4 seed Alabama (21-11) facing the College of Charleston (27-7). The Crimson Tide are favored but come to Spokane having lost four of their past six games.

Meanwhile, the 13th-seeded Charleston Cougars are the hottest team in Spokane, winning 12 straight.

This might be the most entertaining game of the day, even if some distracted fans will be checking on the Gonzaga-McNeese State game that’s happening at the same time in Salt Lake City. Alabama is the highest-scoring team in the nation but has given up at least 100 points three times in the past three weeks. Mark Sears paces Alabama with 21.1 points per game and 75 3-pointers.

Charleston ranks third nationally with an average of 30.6 3-point attempts per game, with the Crimson Tide fourth at 30.3.

The nightcap will test the loyalties of Gonzaga fans who held on to their tickets instead of following the Zags to Utah.

Coach Randy Bennett has fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s (25-7) back in the tournament for the third straight season. The West Coast Conference champion Gaels also have one of the stingiest defenses in the land, allowing just 58.7 points a game.

That figures to be a problem for Grand Canyon, but the Antelopes (29-4) are averaging almost 80 points a game and giving up just 67.

Will Spokane fans root for the Gaels, who beat GU in the Kennel earlier this season? Now that would be a surprise.