3 Cinderellas To Pick To Go Deep In Your NCAA Tournament Bracket

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MARCH 25: Head coach Dusty May of the Florida Atlantic Owls talks to the media as Alijah Martin #15 looks on after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats in the Elite Eight round game of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

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Last year it was Florida Atlantic and Princeton. The year before it was Saint Peter’s. And the year before that it was Oregon State and UCLA.

There have been many “Cinderella” stories in the NCAA Tournament, where teams ranked in the bottom half of seeds have gone on to make deep runs in March Madness. Figuring out before the tournament who those Cinderellas are going to be is probably harder for us than winning the games are for them.

Ahead of the start of the NCAA Tournament, we’re taking a look at the bracket and picking out three potential Cinderellas that you might want to consider selecting in your bracket to make a deep run:

Northwestern (21-11) – No. 9 seed in East Region

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MARCH 18: Northwestern Wildcats fans cheer on their team against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 18, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)

After losing three of their last four games, the Wildcats are coming into the tournament pretty cold. But as we’ve seen throughout the season, they are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with college basketball’s heavy hitters. They took No. 1 Purdue to overtime twice, split a series with Illinois and beat Big Ten semifinalist Nebraska.

The Wildcats start their tournament run on Friday vs. No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic.

Oregon (23-11) – No. 11 seed in Midwest Region

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 24: The Oregon Ducks mascot celebrates after defeating the UC Irvine Anteaters during the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at SAP Center on March 24, 2019 in San Jose, California. Oregon defeated UC Irvine 73-54. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

An 11-seed has pulled an upset over a 6-seed in every NCAA Tournament since 2005 and of all the 11-seeds in the bracket this year, Oregon has the most to like. While they struggled against top 25 teams in the regular season, the Ducks knocked off No. 6 Arizona in convincing fashion during the Pac-12 Tournament and played a bunch of other NCAA Tournament teams very close throughout the year.

The Ducks start their tournament run on Thursday vs. No. 6 South Carolina.

Drake (28-6) – No. 10 seed in East Region

ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 10: Drake players watch the highlights of the championship game after winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game between the Indiana State Sycamore and the Drake Bulldogs on March 10, 2024, at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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Hopefully the “Drake curse” doesn’t also apply to the Missouri Valley Conference titan from Des Moines, Iowa because there is an awful lot to like about the Bulldogs. Darian DeVries’ team has been a well-oiled machine from the paint with his son Tucker DeVries leading the charge and averaging over 18 points per game.

The Bulldogs start their tournament run on Thursday vs. No. 7 seed Washington State.

Who’s your Cinderella in the NCAA Tournament?