March is here and so is the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament. The tournament, fondly referred to as “March Madness” because of the many close games and upsets, is set to start on March 20. This tournament brings the opportunity for small schools to make their mark on history.
Throughout the years of the tournament, many small teams with a low seed can come up with an upset and beat a better team, and sometimes, these small seeds win more than one game and become a Cinderella team.
Some notable Cinderella teams from the past are: No. 11 seed Loyola Chicago’s Final Four run in 2018, No. 11 VCU’s Final Four run in 2011, No. 10 seed Davidson’s Elite Eight run in 2008, and No. 9 FAU’s Final Four run in 2023. With another year of March Madness, comes the chance for more Cinderellas.
This year, there are some possible Cinderellas. The first being the VCU Rams. After winning the Atlantic 10 athletic conference, they got placed as an 11 seed. They will be playing No. 6 seed BYU Cougars. The Cougars offense can get hot, they are a big three-point shooting team but have struggled against good defenses. The Rams are known for their defense this year. With this matchup, they have a good chance of winning in the first round and maybe going even further.
The next team is the UC San Diego Tritons. This is their first year of being eligible to play in the Division 1 tournament after transitioning from Division 2. The Tritons won the Big West conference and got placed as a No. 12 seed. They will be playing the No. 5 seed Michingan Wolverines. UC San Diego has a formidable team and is ready to play against a Michigan team coming off of a win in the Big 10 tournament. UC San Diego has a chance of getting a big upset and moving forward as well.
The last is No. 11 Drake Bulldogs. They won the Missouri Valley Tournament to get their spot in the tournament. They are pitted against the No. 6 Missouri. Despite having the better record, Drake is still the lower seed because they are in a lesser conference than Missouri. Drake has the possibility of getting hot and staying hot. Missouri has had their struggles this year, which gives the Bulldogs a good chance to get an upset.
The tournament starts at 12:15 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 20, with the championship being played on April 7 in San Antonio.
