Bracket Busters: Two mid-majors set to explode in March Madness

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…

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Publish date : 2026-03-12 22:51:00

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