Bracket Busters: Two mid-majors set to explode in March Madness originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Everyone loves Cinderella. From the plucky days of Gonzaga through George Mason, and up to the incomparable Sister Jean and Loyola Chicago.
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Sometimes it is easy to pick underdogs who will give their opponents trouble. Other times, we get teams such as University of Maryland Baltimore County or Fairleigh Dickenson who defeat No. 1 seeds Virginia and Purdue, respectively.
So, who are two teams from mid-major conferences who we need to watch for this March? Here is a hint, although the story is amazing and they deserve to be in the tournament, Miami (OH) is not one of these teams.
High Point, 30-4 overall, 15-1 Big South (Projected 13 Seed)
One thing High Point has that few at their level do is money. The Panthers are financed to the brim, and they care deeply about their basketball team.
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This commitment led the Panthers to finish with the best record in the Big South and to win the conference tournament 91-76 over Winthrop. The victory gave High Point their second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Likely a 13-seed, High Point can still be a threat to a team like Kansas, who have unpredictability with Darryn Peterson. It is a crapshoot at this point on whether he decides to play and for how long. High Point, with its ability to score, could also give trouble to a team with a shaky defense such as Illinois or Arkansas. Which would both be fun games where it might end up that the winner is the first team to 90.
The Panthers are fifth overall averaging 90.0 points per game while the defense allows 70.0 points and ranks No. 1 in the country with 10.9 steals. High Point is also good at holding on to the ball, having just 9.7 turnovers, ranking them No. 16 in the nation.
If High Point can be as efficient in the early rounds of the tournament as they have been all season, they can make it to the second weekend.
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St. Louis, 27-4 overall, 15-3 Atlantic 10 (Projected 8 Seed)
St. Louis struggled a bit down the stretch losing two of their final four regular season games. This mini slide caused the Billikens to finish in a tie for the Atlantic 10 title with VCU. But the Billikens are still safe in the tournament and can be a dangerous team if they get a good draw.
If St. Louis does finish on the eight or nine lines, it will be a difficult path against any of these No. 1 seeds. But if the committee considers their entire body of work and if they win the Atlantic 10 tournament, they could move up a line.
Currently, many prognosticators have St. Mary’s on the seven lines. But they lost in the WCC semi-finals to Santa Clara. With this being the final memory of the season, this could cause the Gaels to slide just a bit and move St. Louis up to seven.
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More:Three teams to avoid advancing deep in your March Madness bracket
The Billikens have a good offense ranking No. 11 nationally with 87.8 ppg while only allowing 69.1. Where St. Louis really makes its hay is from behind the three-point line where it is tenth at 11.0 made while attempting 27.6 shots which ranks No. 51. Their 40.5 three-point percentage is tops in the nation. The Billikens also create a lot of fast breaks for their offense as they rank No. 3 in defensive rebounds at 29.7 per game.
While Miami (OH) was getting all the rightful praise, it might be St. Louis with Robbie Avila a.k.a. White Urkel and Larry Nerd, who makes it the furthest from the mid-major ranks.
Honorable Mention:
Hofstra, 24-10 overall, 12-6 CAA| (Projected No. 13 seed)
While Pride only average 75.6 points, which ranks No. 180, they only allow 66.1points, which is No. 20 in the country.
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Led by alum and one of the original little guards in Speedy Claxton, this team is anything but speedy.
Hofstra is a slow tempo team, and this can keep games close enough to make opposing teams get frustrated. If the Pride can achieve this in the early rounds, they might be ripe to pick off someone who is not expecting them.
