After seeing Kansas lose to TCU, Miami go down to Wake Forest, and Georgetown upset by South Florida,
fans with brackets on the brain need to weigh their options on which "underdog" they'll get behind come tournament time.
Here's our take:
20-13, Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference Champions, Projected seed: 14
Despite losing the 2011-12 NCAA assists
leader, Scott Machado, the Gaels can still score the rock. They rank
3rd nationally in points per game, scoring over 80 per contest.
Individually, Lamont “Momo” Jones, a transfer from the University
of Arizona, is the third best scorer in the country at 23 points per
game. Skeptics may discredit Jones' scoring because of the lack of
defensive prowess within the MAAC. However, Momo played two full
seasons in the Pac-12, garnering plenty of experience against
Power-Six conference talent. If the senior from Harlem finds his
stroke, good luck trying to stop this team on the offensive end.
Also, don't forget that Iona gave BYU trouble in the first round of
the tournament last year. This isn't their first rodeo.
Key victories: at
Georgia, vs. Liberty, Loyola (twice)
Key losses: vs.
Illinois-Chicago, vs. Marist
26-6,
Ohio Valley Conference Champions, Projected seed: 12
The Bruins actually received 13 votes in the final AP Top 25 poll, which would theoretically make them the 31st ranked team
in the country. Belmont thrives on ball movement and shot selection.
They rank 18th overall with 15.9 assists per game as a team. They
also shoot over 49% from the field, good for 4th nationally. Head
coach Rick Byrd has taken his team to the big dance in each of the
past two seasons, and five times since taking the job in Nashville,
only to lose their first game in each appearance. However, with four
players scoring over 10 points per game, and five players racking up
at least 3 assists per game, this could be the year that Belmont
finally sneaks out of the first round. If their opponent can't play
40 minutes of disciplined defense, the Bruins will take advantage in
a big way.
Key
victories: at Stanford, vs. Middle Tennessee, vs. Murray State,
Key
losses: at Murray State, at Tennessee State, at Kansas
26-7,
Southern Conference Champions, Projected seed: 12
The bad news: Stephen Curry is not walking through that
door. The good news: The Wildcats don't need him. Davidson has ripped
off 17 consecutive wins heading into the tourney. In only four of
those 17 wins did the losing team come within 10 points of Bob McKillop's club. Of course, the Southern Conference has even less
talent than most, but Davidson's AD, Jim Murphy, remedied that by
scheduling some incredibly tough out-of-conference opponents. Playing
against teams like West Virginia, Gonzaga, and Duke early in the
season will eliminate any nervousness that the Wildcats may have when
heading into a first round match-up against a high seed. If you're a
believer in the “getting hot at the right time” theory, take the
Wildcats.
Key victories:
@ Richmond, Charleston (twice)
Key losses: @ New
Mexico, vs. Gonzaga, vs. Duke, @ Milwaukee, @ Georgia Southern
As far as upsets go: choose right, and
you'll like like a genius in the office-pool. Choose wrong
and...well, you'll probably look only as silly as everyone else.
Need some more info on the lesser-known
squads? Play SnapCall Sports throughout the week so you can give each
team the eye test for yourself. You might just see some challenging
questions and entertaining commentary along the way.
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