NCAA tournament 2025: 4 Cinderellas ready to bring the Madness, highlighted potential chaos in South Region

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It’s time to fill out your bracket, and what’s March without a little madness in the form of some Cinderella teams to root for along the way? Scott Pianowski reveals four double-digit seeds in position to pull off an upset in Round 1 of the men’s NCAA tournament.

Note: All team stats courtesy of the indispensable KenPom.com.

South region: No. 12 UC San Diego Tritons

When you’re looking for an upset for your tournament bracket, the 12-5 matchups are a good place to start. In 33 of the previous 39 tournaments, a No. 12 seed has won at least one game. In two of the past three dances, the No. 12 seeds have split with the 5s.

Although Michigan stormed to the Big Ten Tournament championship with three wins in three days, the NCAA Tournament committee didn’t seem to take Sunday’s result especially seriously. The Wolverines still had to settle for a No. 5 seed, and its opponent — UC San Diego — is considered the best of the No. 12 seeds. The Tritons are ranked 36th overall in KenPom efficiency, just 11 slots behind Michigan, and the oddsmakers have UCSD a modest 3.5-point underdog for Thursday’s game. UC San Diego has a 15-game winning streak working, longest in the country.

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Often I’ll look to fade a team off a conference tournament win, especially if the task required multiple games in a tight window. Michigan had to ward off three opponents in three days to lift its Big Ten trophy, while UC San Diego only needed two wins to secure the Big West title. The Tritons also enjoy an extra day of rest — they played their final on Saturday, against Michigan who worked on Sunday. It’s open to wonder if the Big Ten should consider moving its final up a day in the future, given that the yearly Selection Sunday results so often don’t seem to factor in the Big Ten final a great deal.

The Tritons have the personality of a mid-major that can go deep. UC San Diego starts five upperclassmen, it takes care of the ball…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketball/article/ncaa-tournament-2025-4-cinderellas-ready-to-bring-the-madness-highlighted-potential-chaos-in-south-region-042021064.html

Author : Scott Pianowski

Publish date : 2025-03-17 04:20:00

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