Sleeper Teams that will surprise

[Stinger92860]

Oakland beating Kentucky

Play the over

 

[Ripper32]

Vermont over Duke.

BYU to the S16

Boise/Colorado over Florida

New Mexico over Clemson

A lot of pundits like BYU to shoot their way into the elite 8.

 

[UConnSwag11]

A lot of pundits like BYU to shoot their way into the elite 8.

Yeah. Live and die by the three but they’re a really good team

 

[Kolumbo]

#12 JMU is on a 13 game winning streak. If they can take down Wiscy then they can send dook home, or have to face UVM. Speaking of which, UVM!

 

[ucp990411]

As long as Stetson is not this year's Cinderella I am good.

 

[ucp990411]

This is not as talented a Vermont team as they normally send. Well coached and work hard, but I don’t think they have the physical talent to be competitive against any winning P-6 team.

Yale is a better choice if you’re looking for that level upset.

You are correct about UVM. Living in VT I go to several games a year and this is far from one of their vintage teams. Fillipowski will have a field day with them. The only way UVM stays close is if they run down the shot clock and hit 90% of their 3's. Huge advantage to UVM on the bench though. John Becker is an excellent coach.

 

[businesslawyer]

You are correct about UVM. Living in VT I go to several games a year and this is far from one of their vintage teams. Fillipowski will have a field day with them. The only way UVM stays close is if they run down the shot clock and hit 90% of their 3's. Huge advantage to UVM on the bench though. John Becker is an excellent coach.

So is the kid from South Windsor — Veretto I think — going to be over his injury and ready to play Friday?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

McNeese can play. They could get to the FF. Seems mid majors getting to the FF is no longer uncommon.

They have a gaudy record and a good (sleazeball) coach but didn't they build that 30 win record by beating up on glorified junior colleges?

 

[Edward Sargent]

I like McNeese, Boise, New Mexico. I also like Utah St over Purdue, Oregon and James Madison. Based on the conference tournaments I am anticipating quite a few upsets. Interested to see of SDSU and FAU can still fit into the cinderella slippers

 

[WhereistheDove?]

They have a gaudy record and a good (sleazeball) coach but didn't they build that 30 win record by beating up on glorified junior colleges?

They did win at UAB, VCU, and Michigan. Yes I know no world beaters there but pretty impressive for McNeese St.

 

[bendm]

is there going to be a boneyard group for the espn tourney challenge again?

 

[storrsroars]

A lot of pundits like BYU to shoot their way into the elite 8.

I'm going to go counter the pundits. With Dambrot announcing his retirement and suggesting his successor (assistant Dru Joyce III) I think they'll have some extra juice to take on the Mormons. Dambrot is a damn good coach and the Dukes have the personnel and style to muck up BYU's pretty shooting stats.

Dambrot is relatively under the radar, but this is a guy with more than 500 wins who gave Shaka Smart his start and also has Boals and Paris in his coaching tree. Not to mention developing LeBron as a 13-year old. It's going to be an emotional game and his players, going back to his first coaching job, will run through walls for him.

 

[uconngb]

I think JMU can win at least two games

 

[Scrutiner]

Due to all the upsets of top seeds in the low major conference tournaments the 13-16 seeds are quite weak this year. The 1s and 4s are quite strong as well.

I don't anticipate a lot of huge crazy seed upsets compared to the last few years. Most upsets will probably come from the 9-12 range. 11s over 6s seem particularly good. I might be buying the NC state train. Winning 5 in 5 has in the past led to good NCAA tourny results.

But remember, it was in the ACC tournament.............
Sorry, didn't read to the end and just saw similar comments.

 

[controlfade]

JMU will be a tough out

 

[Dove]

Could have been because the ACC just isn't very good.

They had a losing ACC record. Stay away.

 

[Hoophound]

They have a gaudy record and a good (sleazeball) coach but didn't they build that 30 win record by beating up on glorified junior colleges?

I think they have 3-4 guys that score in double figures and shoot 3’s at 40%+ or something like that. If they are on, they’ll beat all but the very best teams. I’d hate to run into them playing really well.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

JMU and McNeese are going to be very popular upset picks

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Looking for Yale to unleash The Wolf.

Then send him our way next season…

 

[Slappy]

I don’t think we’ll see a big Cinderella run this year. The separation of the teams at the top feels higher this year than in previous years. I could see Yale potentially making a run to the second weekend. Samford could take down a hobbled Kansas. Maybe Charleston wins a shootout against Bama.

Famous last words!

 

[auror]

Most upsets will probably come from the 9-12 range. 11s over 6s seem particularly good. I might be buying the NC state train. Winning 5 in 5 has in the past led to good NCAA tourny results.

I think it's time to acknowledge that winning 5 in 5 is a good sign for future tournament performance.

 

[August_West]

I think it's time to acknowledge that winning 5 in 5 is a good sign for future tournament performance.

This is a wonderful tournament in that we’ve had plenty of upsets and stories but when we get to E8 there will be 6 minimum 1/2 seeds.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Famous last words!

I mean I guess we’ll see what happens with GCU and Yale, but I’m feeling pretty good about my prediction at this point.

 

[August_West]

I mean I guess we’ll see what happens with GCU and Yale, but I’m feeling pretty good about my prediction at this point.

You should be. We are going to have late round (E8/FF) chalk all over the place