March Madness: 3 Cinderella teams to look out for

It's not every year that a Cinderella crashes the ball at the NCAA championship tournament. Chalk often reigns, and pumpkins usually remain pumpkins. Of course sometimes a team of destiny captures lightning in a bottle. When that happens: pumpkins can magically morph into luxury carriages speeding towards the Final Four. 

There's really nothing magical about it. It's a single game elimination tournament, so weird stuff can and does happen. Maybe not so weird as mice becoming well mannered, impeccable tailored coachmen; but weird nonetheless. 

Every so often a Danny Manning or a Stephen Curry emerges and single handedly barnstorms the tournament. Sometimes an anonymous shooting guard like Ali Faroukmanesh hits that clutch pull up three. Sometimes Harold Jensen leads Villanova to the championship, or Casey Cavalry sinks Florida and causes Gus Johnson to flip out and exclaim "The slipper still fits!!" 

It's the unpredictability that makes the March Madness tournament so riveting. It's what makes a perfect bracket all but impossible to nail down (you can keep your money, Mr. Buffett). It's the kinetic energy, that hint of the improbable, that causes 8+ million viewers to tune in on the very first day of the tournament year-after-year.

So which Cinderella has the best hopes of following in the footsteps of Villanova, or Chattanooga, or even the Florida Gulf Coast this March? Let's turn our attention to three lower seeds with a serious chance to punch above their weight over the coming weeks.

Tennessee

Tennessee hasn't even really qualified for the round of 64 yet - they still have a pretty good Iowa team to defeat in a play-in game before meeting with UMass in round two. But don't sleep on the Volunteers, who are probably a fringe top-10 team in the nation despite their status as a tournament-maybe and prospective 11th seed.

The Volunteers are 13th among all teams in the nation by Pomeroy's basketball ratings system, and are an an elite rebounding team. Led by senior guard Jordan McRae and junior man-child Jarnell Stokes, the Volunteers are entering the tournament with a hot-hand (having won six of their past eight games).

Tennessee played the Florida Gators - who are a number one seed in the tournament and a prohibitive favorite to emerge as national champions - close at the SEC tournament this past weekend, and even led by double figures in the first half of what was ultimately a 56-49 loss. While the Volunteers were betrayed by poor perimeter shooting and an offense that is only decent, there's proof pudding that they can hang with the class of the NCAA.

The Volunteers will control the glass and grind teams down with their superior athleticism and defensive play. Iowa is a mighty test that they'll have to conquer before the real tournament even gets under-way, but they'll be favored against UMass if they can get by the Hawkeyes. Tennessee has the chops to give Duke a scare in round three too, in fact, the Volunteers might be really unfavorable matchup for Jabari Parker, Coach K and company...

North Dakota State

There's just something about North Dakota State. They've got the look. The look of a team that could shock some folks at the NCAA tournament.

It's tough to define precisely what that look is. Maybe there's just something about the backwoods feel of "North Dakota State." Or the vibrancy of the green and yellow colour scheme of their uniforms. More likely it has something to do with their polished offensive efficiency, and the veteran savvy of their core pieces. Add it all up and it just screams "Cinderella."

The Bisons are coming in hot - having won 14 of their last 15 games headed into the tournament. They're also facing an over-seeded Oklahoma Sooners side that struggles on the glass and has had notable issues with offensive efficiency all season long (something the Bisons excel at). 

The Bisons lean heavily on senior Taylor Braun - a sharpshooting guard, who will need to launch a higher volume of outside shots than he's used to if North Dakota State is to have a shot in the tournament. They've also got the master of efficiency at forward - Marshall Bjorklund - who has shot an incredible 63.6% from the field this season while averaging 13.4 points overall.

Bjorklund probably won't convert better than six of every 10 attempts when he's matched up against the likes of Ryan Spangler. But if North Dakota can control the tempo of the game, grind out makes, and get a few additional points from Braun on the perimeter - they could give the Sooners a tough test. 

Harvard

The Harvard Crimson were the toast of the Ivy League this year, as they went 13-1 in conference play and 26-4 overall. That record includes a run of 12 wins in 13 games to finish of their season.

The Crimson move the ball around well, and are efficient offensively. They grind the pace of games to a crawl, and do well to force turnovers. That alone is a pretty deadly mix.

But there's more to like here. The Crimson have a bevy of sharpshooters from the perimeter, including four regulars who qualify as serious outside threats (Siyani Chambers, Laurent Rivard, Brandyn Curry and Agunwa Okolie). They've also got junior forward Steve Moundou-Missi who has broken out in a major way.

The Crimson will face an overvalued Cincinnati side in round two - Cincinnati ranks only narrowly ahead of the Crimson by Pomeroy's ratings system - and should prove a tough out. The Bearcats are inconsistent, inefficient and relatively hapless offensively - in part because of how heavily they rely on Sean Kilpatrick. A one dimensional Bearcats side could prove fruitful upset fodder for scrappy Harvard.