This week, March Madness began with a highly entertaining Round of 64. Similar to previous years, there were a large amount of upsets. Some of them seemed like pure flukes while others showed the country that they are poised for a deep tournament run. Here are three low seeded teams that could potentially be a Cinderella story this year.
SF Austin, South Region (12th Seed)
Prior to their win against VCU, SF Austin had little to no national exposure. Once they were given a chance, people saw how good they really were. SF Austin came into the tournament red hot, on a 28 game win streak including a conference championship. They made their way through the regular season behind their star Junior Forward, Jacob Parker. Parker averaged around 15 points per game as well as a 48% clip from behind the arc. The Lumberjacks also spread the ball to their other guards and finished the regular season averaging 16.6 assists per game (8th in the country). Virginia Commonwealth University came into the tournament for the third straight year. They had made a deep run as a low seed to the final four a few years back, and looked ready to do it again. The game was very close for the most part, but VCU held off the Lumberjacks who were making threes as well as free throws (17-23) to stay in the game. VCU led by four with just seconds left when Desmond Haymon made a last second three pointer and got fouled. The rare four point play sent the game to OT where it went back and forth once again. SF Austin led by two when VCU attempted a game winning three to advance. It rimmed out and SF Austin had won. They will play UCLA in attempt to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time ever. UCLA forces lots of turnovers which is one of The Lumberjacks weaknesses. If SF Austin wants to shock the world again, they must cut down on turnovers and show the world why they are ranked the 13th best offense in the country.
Tennessee, Midwest Region (11th Seed)
Tennessee played in the infamous play-in game vs a heavily favored Iowa opponent. The Volunteers started off slow and it looked like it might get out of hand. The soon closed the gap and ended the half only down three and they had captured most of the momentum. They fought with the Hawkeyes until the bitter end and forced overtime, where they ran away with the win 78-65. Senior Guard Jordan McRae scored 20 and the Volunteers showed how strong they were in the paint. In the regular season, they were 20th in the nation on the glass and the first round was no different. Tennessee then played Umass in the round of 64. Umass came in as a sixth seed behind their star guard Chaz WIlliams (16 points per game 7 assists per game 2 steals per game). Tennesee exploded on offense against the Minutemen, and stretched out a 41-22 halftime lead. The final score was 86-67. Jarnell Stokes had a double-double (26 points, 14 rebounds), and once again, the Volunteers defense played god enough to advance. They will play Mercer (14th seed) who beat Duke in their first round match up. Duke did not play good defense vs Mercer which is why Tennessee could easily give the Mercer Bears a tough time. The Volunteers look like such a dual threat team both on offense and defense for their run to be stopped. Look for Tennessee to possibly Mercer and continue even deeper into the tournament.
Pittsburgh, South Region (9th Seed)
Pittsburgh had a very strong season in the ACC which their record might not tell you. Their seven losses were to good tournament teams such as Duke, Syracuse, UVA etc. They played solid defense all year, only allowing around 62 points per game, 20th in the nation. They played very well in their conference tournament, but lost to top seed UVA by three. They felt under appreciated when they received a nine seed in the tournament, so they made easy work for 8 seed Colorado 77-48 in the first round. Talib Zanna scored 16 points in the first half and totaled 5 rebounds as well. The Panthers defense was rock solid, for they only allowed 18 points in the first half. Colorado ended up with a 36% field goal precentage for the game, showing that the Panthers were just too good defensively. James Robinson had a good game, totaling 6 rebounds, 8 assists and three steals. They will play a very tough Florida team today, who is number one overall. Florida looked decent in their opener, but not nearly as good as they should if they want to beat Pittsburgh. If Pittsburgh can break the Florida press and play solid defense. If they can shut down key players like Scotty Wilbekin, they could pull a huge upset and advance through an upset heavy south bracket.
The tournament has been great so far and will only get better it goes on with the teams listed above.
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