Who'll wear the glass slipper this year?

1 ANSWERS

1. Saba
   

   Last year, Stephen Curry and Davidson were the belles of the ball, making it all the way to the Elite Eight. Who'll be this season's Cinderella? WhatIfSports simulated the tournament 10,000 times and came up with 10 teams that have a good shot at outperforming their seed. See who they are ... and how far they'll go
   According to 10,000 simulations in WhatIfSports.com's Bracket Preview, the Horizon League champion Cleveland State Vikings, who won at Butler and at Syracuse this year, have a 29.8% chance of upsetting an inconsistent Wake Forest team that finished the year 8-6 in its last 14 games. With Utah in the same region as one of the weaker 5-seeds, CSU has a noteworthy 12.6% likelihood of making the Sweet 16.
   In its first-ever Division I NCAA Tournament, North Dakota State may not be one-and-done. Ben Woodside -- who put up 60 points against fellow tournament team Stephen F. Austin -- and company have a 26 percent shot to knock off the defending champion Kansas Jayhawks. Since Woodside's freshman season, the Bison have won at Wisconsin and at Marquette, so an upset here would not be too surprising.
   They may be a 15-seed, but the Robert Morris Colonials are a legitimate conference (Northeast) power with experience this year against elites Pittsburgh and Xavier. Michigan State has the resume of a strong #2, yet the statistics -- particularly in offensive efficiency -- of a team that could struggle to make the Sweet 16. Robert Morris wins this first-round matchup 33.1% of the time.
   Despite the fact that Cornell won the Ivy League by three games and has 21 total wins, its place on this list has much more to do with Missouri's struggles in the sim. The Tigers do great with turnover margin, but do not shoot free throws or threes well and have difficulty defending inside and rebounding. Cornell is led by 6-6 forward Ryan Wittman and 7-0 center Jeff Foote, who could have great days. In the analysis, Cornell advances to the second round 40.5% of the time.

   Report (0) (0)  |   12 years, 9 month(s) ago