5 Potential Cinderella Teams In The 2019 NCAA Tournament
Andrew Tineo
Posted On February 11
Cinderella’s are one of the more fun stories to follow in all of College Sports and the fun thing about the NCAA Tournament is that any team can beat anybody on any night. That’s the excitement and unpredictability of College Basketball.
We’ve seen Mid Major schools become threats in the NCAA Tournament through upsets from schools like George Mason and VCU. We’ve seen Dunk City known as Florida Gulf Coast make their illustrious run. Where they upset #2 seed Villanova and defeated #7 San Diego State before losing in the Sweet Sixteen to Florida. The more recent Cinderella stories was the epic run of Loyola last season as well as the UMBC Retrievers. UMBC became the first #16 seed to upset a #1 in NCAA Tournament history with a 74-54 blowout of the Cavaliers. To this day, I still follow their twitter account and I would encourage others to do so as well. They post some fantastic content.
And with all of that behind us now, let’s take a look at the 5 potential Cinderella’s that could play spoiler just like all these schools have in the past (assuming these teams do in fact win their conference).
Buffalo:
Buffalo was out to a hot start this year after a very successful 2017-2018 campaign. They started out with a 11-0 start with road wins against West Virginia and Syracuse. They hit a big wall when the Bulls met Markus Howard as he went for 40 points in the second half and led Marquette to a big 103-85 win over Buffalo at Marquette.
CJ Massinburg has become a very good all around player, as in his senior year, he is averaging 18.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and is shooting 48/42/77 on the season so far. His fellow guard, Jeremy Harris is also building on his final year in the Black and Blue with a little over 14 Points per contest as well as F Montell McRae who is the most efficient forward in all of MAC play with 91% shooting from 2 point range.
The thing that makes Buffalo so intriguing is that this is a very experienced team who has had success in the past. They have 5 seniors on this team and 4 of them start (with the exception of Jayvon Graves). If Buffalo continues to play the way they have, I doubt they are any higher than a 11. But nonetheless, they are a problem for any team that faces them once tournament time rolls around.
Hofstra:
Hofstra is known for there offense in the CAA as they lead the conference with 82.9 PPG. It also helps when you have a top 3 scorer In the nation in G Justin Wright-Foreman who is averaging 26 PPG. Even with the high numbers, he is scoring at a crazy efficient rate with 52/43/87 from the field and free throw line.
What makes Buffalo dangerous is there experienced. Well Hofstra is even more experienced than the Bulls. According to CBB Reference, Buffalo has a average experience rating of 1.7. Hofstra has a 2.4. 9 of their 10 main rotation/starters are upperclassmen and they bolster 5 seniors, similar to Buffalo. Due to that maturity, Hofstra is disciplined and wont foul very much.
They are 11th in the nation in fewest fouls of teams that have played 23 games or more. Hofstra is also in the top 30 in the nation in fewest turnovers, so when you get to see Hofstra, you’re going to see a disciplined team with a really good offense and a elite scorer. As well as Elite Free Throw shooting as they are 2nd in the nation in free throw shooting with 79.1% as a team. If they win their conference, they’ll more than likely be a 11 or 12 seed and my bold prediction is I think they could make it up to the Sweet 16.
Lipscomb:
Lipscomb has the same darn near criteria as the other teams that have been mentioned. Senior heavy team (5 Seniors) with a really good offense (6th in PPG) and 2 reliable scorers in Garrison Mathews and Rob Marberry (20 PPG and 14.5 PPG respectively). The difference is Lipscomb plays with a ton of players and have some underclassmen playing some big, crucial minutes.
They start a Freshman at Center in Ahsan Asadullah and have a sophomore and 2 freshman playing a good amount for their age and how many other schools in the same conference as Lipscomb would let them play. One player that is intriguing that doesn’t start is Sophomore G Andrew Fleming from Powerhouse Oak Hill in Virginia. Fleming doesn’t get a ton of minutes and a ton of shots, but he has 51/48/80 shot lines and doesn’t turn the ball over when he’s in the game. If Lipscomb has another good team next year, he’ll be called upon.
Lipscomb is very good at passing the rock as they place in the Top 10 in Assists nationally and Top 50 in Assists to Turnover ratio. Lipscomb will more than likely get a 12-13 seed and with a favorable matchup, wouldn’t be surprised if they shocked some people.
Wofford:
Mike Young’s team is a little bit different from the others in two categories. For 1, Wofford plays defense as they rank in the Top 50 in defense in 66 PPG. 2, Wofford has youth and it’s getting a ton of minutes. Wofford’s two scorers are both seniors in G Fletcher Magee and F Cameron Jackson. But the next 4 scorers is a Junior and 3 Sophomores. Fletcher Magee is more of a 3 point threat than a passing guard as he averages 10 3 point shots a game and a abysmal 1.5 assists per contest.
Wofford is a terrific rebounding team and doesn’t have the tallest players, but they can come down with some boards. Wofford ranks in the Top 10 in the nation in Rebounding Margin as they have 2 players averaging 7 rebounds (Cameron Jackson and Keve Alum) and they also have 2 players averaging 4 a contest (6-11 Matthew Pegram and Chevez Goodwin).
Wofford is probably on offense and defense, the best statistical team and are versatile as they can do many things well. But in the NCAA Tournament, against Bluebloods or a really good program, we’ll see if that youth can make some noise. Wofford should be a 13 seed and give a team a scare and maybe even the win.
Murray State:
Murray State has just about been the most talked about Mid-Major school in all of CBB (Big East doesn’t count as Mid-Major). And for good reason, as the Racers have a lottery pick, dunking on people and making ridiculous passes and a ton of scouts have their eyes on the 6-2 Sophomore. It’s very rare to see a kid at a Mid-Major school put up numbers like these as a Sophomore. This team is by far, the youngest team of the 5 (which is good for the future) as they only have 2 seniors and both of those guys are role players.
Murray State has one glaring weakness, but first with the positives. Murray State is a elite 3 point defense as they force opponents to shoot just 27% from beyond the arc. The problem is they don’t shoot the ball from 3 very well. A lot of Cinderella’s rely on the 3 ball and they have no one shooting 40% or better and rank 150th (34.9%) from 3 point land.
Murray State has the elite NBA prospect and some young playmakers around him that could take these team some places. Murray State could’ve been a 9 or 10 seed, but due to some bad losses, will be 11 or 12. They might get one of the best 5 seeds, but it will be very interesting to see how Ja Morant plays. The NCAA put 2 non-bluebloods in with lottery players and they didn’t succeed (Trae Young and Mo Bamba). Murray State will get an upset and could push another team).
True Cinderella Team:
There are some good contenders on this list, but the one that stands out to me is Hofstra. With the dominant play and statistically, putting up absurd numbers. Combine all of that with the amount of experience and ability of Justin Wright-Hoffman, that is my Cinderella team to make a huge push and be the talk of the Tournament in 2019.
Image Credit: https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2018/01/23/hofstra-justin-wright-foreman-third-points-leader
