John Fanta Predicts Shocking Round 1 March Madness Upset

College basketball personality John Fanta, has predicted a shocking Round 1 upset.

Akron Zips guard Shammah Scott (1) celebrates his three during the second half of the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship game against Miami (Oh.) at Rocket Arena on Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio. / Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

John Fanta has become the authority in college basketball with his genuine love for the game. When the calendar flips to March, it is his time to shine and when he talks, everyone listens.

He does many things to cover college hoops and one of those is running “The Field of 68 After Dark.” 

On Monday night’s show, Fanta led Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman through some bracket talk and when it wrapped back to Fanta, he gave a shocking round-one prediction.

“I’ve got the Akron Zips pulling it off behind the Johnson guard duo. John Groce, his team averages over 80 points per game and they are not going to be phased by Arizona trying to run the floor because they play a Top-20 tempo in College Basketball.”

Akron is a dangerous team coming out of the MAC tournament. As Fanta mentioned, they play at a fast pace, but they also can score the basketball. Typically, a team like Akron has a standout player that they would lean on to pull off an upset. Not this Akron team.

Akron men's basketball players, coaches and fans celebrate as the Zips are announced as a No. 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament during a Selection Sunday event at James A. Rhodes Arena, Sunday, March 16, 2025. Akron is set to meet No. 4 seed Arizona. / Nate Ulrich / Akron Beacon Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Zips do it by committee and that’s what makes them so dangerous. While averaging over 80 points per game, the Johnson guard duo are the only players who average double figures. Nate Johnson averages 14 points per game while Tavari Johnson averages 13 points per game.

After those two, the Zips get at least six points per game from eight different players in their lineup.

This team is deep, they play with tempo, they play with an attitude and if Arizona looks beyond them even just a little bit, they could get beat by the scrappy Zips.

It will be interesting to see if Fanta’s upset prediction ends up becoming a reality.