March Madness 2017: Seven NCAA Tournament bracket busters ready for Cinderella run (2024)

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March Madness has started, and we’re ready for some upsets.

The most fun part of filling out the NCAA Tournament bracket is finding the diamonds in the rough, the low seeds that will go on to shock the world and become this year’s Cinderella in March Madness.

While every NCAA Tournament includes a few first-round shockers, it takes a unique combination of seeding, tournament draw coaching and personnel to win a couple games against top seeds and bust up everyone’s bracket in the process. Below, we’ve narrowed the field of possible Cinderellas to seven teams ripe to make a run.

It is improbable that we will see all of these underdogs advance to the Sweet 16 (and in the case of Middle Tennessee and Winthrop, impossible), but there’s a good chance one of them will be a bracket buster in 2017.

Iona (No. 14 Seed, Midwest Region)

First round: vs. No. 3 Oregon

The Gaels play an up-tempo style and have experience in the NCAA Tournament (fourth appearance since 2012). Jordan Washington is a star and they draw a hobbled Oregon team that just lost 6-foot-10 star big man Chris Boucher for the season with a knee injury. If Washington is on, Iona could not only knock off Oregon but also the winner of Creighton and Rhode Island.

Florida Gulf Coast (No. 14 seed, West Region)

First round: vs. No. 3 Florida State

Over the past 10 years, 11 teams that were a 14-seed or 15-seed have won in the first round. Dunk City played Baylor and Michigan State close, on the road, and took care of business in the Atlantic Sun. Florida State didn’t play great away from home and gets an FGCU staff that is still pretty familiar with Leonard Hamilton and the Seminoles’ style of attack.

Vermont (No. 13 seed, Midwest Region)

First round: vs. No. 4 Purdue

No one in the country is hotter than Vermont. The Catamounts have won 21 games in a row (nation’s longest active streak) and have a freshman in 6-6 forward Anthony Lamb who has played his best basketball since the start of February. Getting past the winner of Iowa State-Nevada, a tasty high-scoring title in itself, might be more challenging but I like Vermont to extend the streak to 22.

Winthrop (No. 13 seed, South Region)

First round: vs. No. 4 Butler

No one in Division I basketball won more road games than Winthrop (12), booking their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 17 years with the Big South tittle. Pat Kelsey has the Eagles in a good spot, getting a Bulldogs team that lost its Senior Night finale to Seton Hall and got bounced from the Big East tournament by Xavier, but the numbers still have Butler as a heavy favorite. If Winthrop wins, we’ll all know the name of diminutive but dominant 5-7 guard Keon Johnson, who dropped 38 points on Illinois in November and put up 26-plus in each of the Eagles’ conference tournament wins.

Middle Tennessee (No. 12 seed, South Region)

First round: vs. No. 5 Minnesota

Giddy Potts is back along with Reggie Upshaw and five other players from last year’s upset win against No. 2 seed Michigan State. Minnesota put together a banner year for Richard Pitino, but the lack of NCAA Tournament experience could end up biting them here in the first round. Potts is our player to watch, but the X-factor here is Upshaw, one of only three active players with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocks in his career.

UNC-Wilmington (No. 12 seed, East Region)

First round: vs. No. 5 Virginia

The Seahawks put up a good fight against Duke last year in its NCAA Tournament debut under Kevin Keatts. Facing Virginia, Keatts not only has a chance to notch his first tournament win but potentially carry this high-scoring bunch to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. UNCW has put up 100 points or more seven times this season and does a great job taking care of the ball. But to bust up the brackets UNCW will need an edge in what promises to be games of contrasting styles. Virginia and the threat of Florida in the second round some of the best defensive teams in the tournament, putting all the more pressure on CJ Bryce, Denzel Ingram and Chris Flemmings to produce at a high level.

Wake Forest (No. 11 seed, South Region)

First Four vs. No. 11 Kansas State, First round: vs. No. 6 Cincinnati

Every year since the First Four was added to the NCAA Tournament, a team has made it from Dayton to the second round with a pair of wins in the tournament’s first week. Wake Forest, led by John Collins, looks like the most likely candidate to accomplish that feat and could carry that momentum into the Sweet 16. Collins was the best big man in the ACC this year, averaging 18.9 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Danny Manning has him, and another sophomore in Bryant Crawford, that can absolutely take over a game if needed and that kind of offensive potency could power a run past both Kansas State and Cincinnati.

March Madness 2017: Seven NCAA Tournament bracket busters ready for Cinderella run (2024)

FAQs

What does Cinderella story mean in March Madness? ›

In the context of March Madness, a Cinderella team refers to an underdog or lesser-known team that unexpectedly achieves significant success by outperforming higher-seeded opponents.

What is a bracket buster March Madness? ›

When a lightly regarded mid-major team upsets a traditional powerhouse team, the result often knocks out subsequent predictions of many players in these informal pools, who are said to have had their brackets busted—hence, the term "bracket buster."

What app to use for March Madness bracket? ›

- Use ESPN+ Bracket Predictor and Bracket Analyzer to take your bracket experience to the next level with the tools and data you'll need to gain an edge on your competition.

Why do they call it a Cinderella run? ›

Cinderella. In sports, the terms Cinderella, "Cinderella story", and Cinderella team are used to refer to situations in which competitors achieve far greater success than would reasonably have been best expected.

What is the deeper meaning behind Cinderella? ›

It centers around many themes, or central ideas in a piece of writing. Cinderella teaches the morals of kindness towards all, forgiving others for doing wrong, and never letting bad things ruin your heart. The themes of the story are good versus evil and luck changing your life.

Has there ever been a perfect March Madness? ›

Has anyone had a perfect bracket? No, but a neurologist from Columbus, Ohio, named Gregg Nigl had the verified bracket closest to perfection.

How many unique March Madness brackets are there? ›

Therefore, there are 63 games in a normal NCAA tournament bracket. As such, the number of possible outcomes for a bracket is 2^63, or 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. That's 9.2 quintillion. In case you were wondering, one quintillion is one billion billions.

What is a March Madness bracket tie breaker? ›

First tiebreaker - Closest prediction of total points scored by both teams wins. Second tiebreaker - Closest prediction for points scored by the winning team. Third tiebreaker - Closest prediction for points scored by the losing team.

How to run a NCAA bracket pool? ›

Bracket Pool Rules

This is the pool format most people are familiar with: Members pick all 63 games of the NCAA tournament (15 games if you run a Sweet 16 pool). Points are awarded for each winning pick. Points values increase as the tournament progresses (points per round are configurable by the Pool Commissioner).

Are there perfect brackets left? ›

And, in the process, the Aggies busted the final perfect bracket. As the 2024 men's NCAA Tournament enters the second round on Saturday, there are no more perfect brackets remaining among major online platforms (NCAA, ESPN, CBS and Yahoo), according to the NCAA.

What does PTS REM mean? ›

Pts: Points you've already earned. Pts Rem: Points you could earn based on the outcomes of the remaining games. TIEBREAKER RULES. Players have the option to submit a predicted score or "Tiebreaker" for the championship matchup during the picks experience.

How to make a March Madness bracket for free? ›

Here's how you sign up: Go to the CBS Sports Bracket Games page, select "Create a Group," and you can create your own personalized March Madness experience. From there you can add members to your pool, create your own special group name and, of course, fill out your bracket online in an easy-to-manage format.

Where can I fill out my NCAA bracket online? ›

You can fill out a bracket virtually through NCAA.com's Official Bracket Challenge. Sign up for free, if you haven't already done so, and start picking a winner for every matchup!

How do I save my March Madness bracket? ›

MML Fan Support - Answer Detail. How do I save my bracket and finish later? While filling out your bracket, click the 'Save' icon on the left side of the screen to save your picks if you want to leave the picking experience.

What does Cinderella mean in NCAA? ›

The term "Cinderella team" is used to describe an unheralded, low-seeded team making a deep tournament run that no one saw coming. Take, for instance, 15-seeded Saint Peter's remarkable trip to the Elite Eight last year.

What does the phrase Cinderella story mean? ›

The word Cinderella has, by analogy, come to mean someone whose attributes are unrecognized, or someone unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect.

What is the explanation of Cinderella story? ›

Cinderella, the most popular of all fairy tales, is a time-less story of virtue rewarded. Sweet, beautiful Cinderella, cruelly mistreated by her evil stepmother and stepsisters, is helped by her magical fairy godmother, who sends her off to win the heart of a handsome prince and live happily ever after.

What does Cinderella status mean? ›

If you describe a person or organization as a Cinderella, you mean that they receive very little attention and that they deserve to receive more. It is a Cinderella of charities, and needs more help. [

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