Every season so-called college basketball experts make their predictions of which lesser known teams will shock the public and make a deep tournament run. However, there are some key components that these teams must have. Let’s take a look at which smaller schools have the potential to wreck tournament brackets. First and foremost, Cinderella teams must have excellent guard play, specifically at the point. They also need to have a go to guy in the last few minutes that can make clutch shots. Last season, Stephon Curry was Davidson’s clutch shooter, which allowed the Wildcats to make it to the Elite 8. Western Kentucky also made a run to the Sweet 16 because of star guard Courtney Lee. They only beat Drake and San Diego in the first two rounds though, but they did get a point spread cover in their tournament loss to UCLA. However, balanced scoring between the backcourt and frontcourt can make up for the lack of one single dominating player. George Mason exhibited that a few seasons ago on their way to the Final Four. Second, these potential bracket busters must have won, or have been very close to winning, games against high quality competition. These games show a team’s toughness, which is crucial when trying to beat a bigger name school. Once again, both Davidson and Western Kentucky had some good performances against upper tier opponents in the regular season last year. Lastly, smaller schools that make deep tournament runs almost always dominated their conference competition during the regular season. George Mason, Davidson, and Western Kentucky all cruised through conference play on their way to the tournament. However, the most important factor in an underdog team making a run is experience. A starting line-up with all juniors and seniors will stick together in tough situations, especially late in the game when facing a team with better talent. These experienced players have been through a great deal of adversity together for several years, which allows them to take down their inexperienced favored opponents. So which teams have potential to make a surprising run this year? SIENA – This team has the best chance to be this season’s George Mason or Davidson. All of their starters have experience from last year’s tournament team, which upset Vanderbilt. They have point spread covers at Pittsburgh, Kansas, and St. Joseph’s as well. The Saints have also destroyed opponents in their conference, with a 15-1 straight up record. This team will not be fazed by bigger name schools, as they have played several games against tough opponents over the last two seasons. CREIGHTON – The Bluejays are playing their best basketball of the season. They have gone 12-2 straight up in their last 14 games, including a blowout win over George Mason just a few days ago. Creighton is also 6-1-1 against the spread in their last 8 games. They have a great deal of experience with four returning starters from a season ago, and they have an outstanding go to scorer with in Booker Woodfox. This team will be very dangerous if they make it to the tournament. BUTLER – This team has played tough against the best competition on their schedule. They have wins over Davidson, UAB, Xavier, Cleveland State, Northwestern, and Drake. The Bulldogs also have a very close loss at Ohio State, but they covered the spread as a 7 point underdog. This team has a very balanced offensive attack, but their strength is defense. Butler is ranked 6th nationally with defensive field goal percentage, allowing teams to shoot only 37.8% from the field. However, the Bulldogs weakness is their inexperience. However, a strong defense and solid coaching may be enough to overcome that flaw.
 

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