5 Cinderellas to bust your bracket
The best part of the NCAA tournament is when teams come out of nowhere, get hot at the right time and bust your bracket (and your heart).
Here are a few Cinderellas who are likely to keep their dancing shoes on for longer than anticipated:
Northern Iowa
Slated to make a deep run in March, Northern Iowa may be one of the best mid-major teams in the NCAA tournament. The Panthers turned heads with a dream season, losing only three times by an average of less than eight points. Northern Iowa plays smothering defense, and limited opponents to 54.3 points per game. Ranking 16th nationally, the Panthers also hit 48.3 percent of their shots from the field. It helps to have All-American candidate Seth Tuttle putting the team on his back. He averages 15.3 points while shooting an ultra-efficient 61.6 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Buffalo
Rising from obscurity, the Bulls are poised to cause some trouble in the NCAA tournament. Although this is Buffalo's first time in the Big Dance, the Bulls are battle-tested, playing tournament No. 1 seeds Kentucky and Wisconsin tight - even leading the top-ranked Wildcats at the half in that matchup. Bobby Hurley's team is capable of scoring points in a hurry, making it difficult for teams to catch up. Led by the dynamic duo of Justin Moss (17.7) and Shannon Evans (15.4), the Bulls are ranked 26th nationally in scoring, dropping 75 points per game.
Texas
Texas is a frustrating team. The roster is full of talent, especially in Isaiah Taylor, who puts up 13 points per game and shoots an impressive 83.8 percent from the free-throw line. The Longhorns can defend at the rim - leading the nation with 7.9 blocked shots per game - and they rank fourth in average rebounds. While Texas's two separate losing streaks are the sign of a struggling team, the NCAA tournament presents the perfect storm for the Longhorns to pull it together.
Ole Miss
Ole Miss is the true definition of a Cinderella. The Rebels were not slated to defeat BYU, who owns the second-ranked scoring offense in the nation, and a wide selection of precision shooters. The Rebels trailed behind the Cougars for most of the game, but closed a 17-point deficit to capture a victory and enter the Round of 64. Stefan Moody and Jarvis Summers are not only skilled at racking up points, 16.3 and 12.4 points respectively, their ability to sink free throws is the difference between life and death for Ole Miss.
Wofford
Wofford is looking to capture that ever-elusive NCAA tournament win after making the Big Dance for the fourth time in six years. The Terriers' automatic bid may not have come from the most challenging conference, but there is something to be said for a team that has lost only two games since the calendar flipped to 2015. Wofford is hot, winning 15 of 16, and has Karl Cochran's 14.6 points and Spencer Collins' 11.6 leading the way.