Cinderellas

[BUNK MORELAND]

I wanted to get some ideas on who you guys think can make a SWEET 16 RUN next month. Which teams, from the smaller conferences ( non BCS ) can win two games and make it to the second weekend...


Here are my two :

Cornell - I expect them to win the remainder of their games and represent the IVY. That loss to Penn last Friday is actually a " blessing in disguise " I feel that was a humbling loss that can go along way for them. Cornell is big, and experienced. They have played some good teams in non conference and have competed against some of the best teams in the country. Lost to Seton Hall in a close game. Gave Syracuse a good fight for about 30 minutes and they went to Kansas and almost dumped the Jayhawks. They led Kansas at the half . They do have a few good wins over teams from the bigger leagues ( Alabama, UMASS, St Johns )

Utep - Good Inside/Outside 1-2 Punch in Caracter and Culpepper. This is an extremely deep team. Five Miners average double figures. Seven minors contribute atleast 7 ppg.

Neither of these teams are guaranteed a birth in the BIG DANCE, but i expect these two to get in and make some noise come march ...

[joepa66]

If they win the Big Sky Conference look out for:

NORTHERN COLORADO - The Bears are 22-6 (11-4 in Big Sky play), 11-1 at home, 8-4 away, and 3-1 on neutral courts this year. They average 73.5 ppg and give up 66.6 ppg, only make 12.9 turnovers per game and have a +3.5 turnover margin and 7.4 steals per game. They get it done on both ends of the floor. They have been one of my favorite teams to wager on this season, especially at the beginning of the season. They went to Oklahoma and lost by just one point 80-79 outscoring the Sooners 36-20 in the paint, and have road wins at some pretty tough places to play such as TCU by 11, Air Force by 24, Denver by 15 and just beat Portland State over the weekend. UNC is paced in scoring by two quick but smaller guards, Will Figures (5'9") at 16ppg and Drew Beitzel at 14ppg. They also have four players who average between 7-9ppg and all are post players. Decent size in the middle with a 6'9", three 6'8" and two 6'7" players. Just a team to watch out for if they get go Dancing!

[Woody12]

Northern Iowa looks like a good one although they have been ranked most of the year so may not be "under the radar" as much as the ones you mentioned.

A solid Defensive team which is good come tourney time.

[Nicky Santoro]

Northern Iowa looks like a good one although they have been ranked most of the year so may not be "under the radar" as much as the ones you mentioned.

A solid Defensive team which is good come tourney time.

Depends on who they draw, if they go in as a 5 or 6 seed they should win their first rounder. They need to start putting up some points to hang with the big boys(64.1 PPG). I'll wait and see on their match-ups.

[Nicky Santoro]

Coastal Carolina--24-5 but only 3-1 ATS. The problem with such a small confernece we can't get a good read on them and they usually fall in the opening round. However, their record should boost them to that #13 spoiler seed. Which may be a good opening round value bet. I'll keep an eye on the match-up and check out the spread. They play great defense and led the Big South in total defense. Overall, 58.9 PPG, 37% FG and 28% from the arc. Great numbers for their defense. Keep an eye on Myrtle Beach!:thumbs:

[BUNK MORELAND]

BUMP

VCU
OLD D
G MASON
NORTHEASTERN

This league has been very competitive and their tournament should be interesting... Any thoughts on this league

This leage has been successful in the tourney ( GMASON and VCU ) and this year the rep will be very tested IMO

I know Joepa is a Northeastern Huskie fan ..

They may win this tourney and represent the Colonial

Any thoughts on the Colonial or any other ?

[FlyersFan]

VCU
OLD D
G MASON
NORTHEASTERN

This league has been very competitive and their tournament should be interesting... Any thoughts on this league

This leage has been successful in the tourney ( GMASON and VCU ) and this year the rep will be very tested IMO

I know Joepa is a Northeastern Huskie fan ..

They may win this tourney and represent the Colonial

Any thoughts on the Colonial or any other ?

i follow the CAA somewhat. Old Dominion (minus that effort today) is one of the best defensive teams in the country. GMason and NEastern are both wild cards, IMO. You never know what you're going to get on any given day from them. VCU is probably the next step down from ODU and in between the other 2 IMO.

BUT....don't sleep on Bill and Mary...they notched a 20 win season tonight and clinched a bye in the first round i believe. They started great and cooled off later in the conference but they are more than capable of doing some damage in this tournament. IMO somebody is going to have to get red hot shooting the basketball to beat ODU because they never give you anything easy. They are down right stingy when they want to be. I wouldn't be surprised to see any of those 4 teams win it and even Bill and Mary if they just get red hot. The rest of the league is a bunch of crap.

[FlyersFan]

i think the MVC tourney is one of the most intriguing of them all every year. There really isn't much difference most years between like teams 3 and 8 or 9 and the same can be said this year. Every team is beatable, even UNI because they can't score the basketball. No matter how well you defend, if you struggle to crack the 60 point mark every game you're going to leave teams in the game and that is how you lose IMO.

My dark horse to win that tournament outside of UNI would be ILLST. Law of averages. The toughest thing about picking a dark horse in this league is that the dark horse could lose to a deeper dark horse if you get my drift. WIIIIIIDE Open outside of UNI IMO

[FlyersFan]

I don't really think UNI is a cinderella by the way (JMO). They have been ranked in the top 25 and have a senior team that has played together for several years now.

[BUNK MORELAND]

i think the MVC tourney is one of the most intriguing of them all every year. There really isn't much difference most years between like teams 3 and 8 or 9 and the same can be said this year. Every team is beatable, even UNI because they can't score the basketball. No matter how well you defend, if you struggle to crack the 60 point mark every game you're going to leave teams in the game and that is how you lose IMO.

My dark horse to win that tournament outside of UNI would be ILLST. Law of averages. The toughest thing about picking a dark horse in this league is that the dark horse could lose to a deeper dark horse if you get my drift. WIIIIIIDE Open outside of UNI IMO

I stay away from this league . I'm scared of it . This is another league who has had success in the dance. BRADLEY, NIU

[FlyersFan]

I stay away from this league . I'm scared of it . This is another league who has had success in the dance. BRADLEY, NIU

it used to be a very pattern predictable and very bettable league up until last year and this year. there are still some good spots but the percentage of predictable games has gone down. i made some good money in this league in the past few years and still snaked some winners this year but not nearly like before. I think the league has been very streaky in terms of teams and their play. The home domination in this league also has gone away in the past couple of years.

I think this is a tough tourney to predict because the teams are so equal and even Evansville who finished dead last beat UNI and WichY woman late in the season. And toss in a neutral floor unlike some of these other leagues and good luck IMO.

but if the winner didn't come out of the top 3 teams in the league i would be shocked. CREIGH doesn't have enough to win 3 big games IMO, Bradley is junk, SWMOST, DRK, INDST not consistent enough IMO and SOILL and EVNS both suck ass.

[BoilerBacker]

Look out for Siena

Would not want to play UAB or UTEP either

Not a fan of Colonial.....think they are down this yr.