10 college basketball Cinderellas who can crash men’s NCAA tournament during conference tournaments

Congratulations to Bryant on its regular season title, but the America East still goes through Vermont. The Catamounts have won three straight conference tournament titles, five of the last six, and 12 total since 2003. Oh, and they’re entering the postseason on a nine-game winning streak that includes a win over Bryant.

Don’t even pay attention to where they’re seeded. It doesn’t matter. Despite losing to Grambling in last year’s tournament championship game, Texas Southern has claimed a whopping seven of the league’s last 10 auto-bids. Two years ago, they were the lowest-seeded team in the field of eight, upset top-seeded Alcorn State in the quarterfinals, blasted Alabama A&M in the semis, and then shocked second-seeded Grambling in the championship game.

The Tigers currently sit in fourth place in the SWAC standings.

Same deal here. The Gaels have won six of the last eight MAAC tournament championships, and they’ve done it from a variety of starting positions. They’ll start from somewhere in the middle of the pack next week in Atlantic City, but it shouldn’t shock anyone if they get hot and turn the tournament on its head.

They’re the 4-seed in this tournament and will start play in the quarterfinals, but Little Rock is without question the best defensive team in the OVC. They knocked off regular season Southeast Missouri on the road back in January.

It’s jarring not to see the Jackrabbits as one of the favorites to win the Summit League’s auto-bid. They’ve been to the NCAA tournament seven times since 2012 and have won at least a share of the league’s regular season title nine times since 2013.

They’re the 3-seed for this year’s tournament, but there are more than a few folks who believe they should still be viewed as the team to beat. The Rabbits are 10-3 since the middle of January and have, perhaps, the league’s best overall player in senior big man Oscar Cluff.

Two words: Bucky Ball.

It didn’t die after last year’s controversial loss to Kansas in the NCAA tournament, it’s just been lying in wait.

Pat Kelsey is at Louisville now, but the Cougars are still the CAA’s dominant March force until proven otherwise. Ante Brzovic is a baller who can play postseason hero, and Charleston’s new head coach — ironically, former Louisville head coach Chris Mack — is a guy who has shown an ability to get the job done in March before.

As has been the case for the last several years, the Dons are NCAA tournament good. Gonzaga isn’t an ideal matchup for them — as evidenced by the results of their two regular season meetings — but don’t be shocked if they play above their heads in the semis and ruin the final showdown between the Zags and Saint Mary’s.

The metrics love Bucknell, the regular season records love American, but I love this guy.

Beard magic is real and don’t let anyone tell you any differently.

Also, the Raiders have dominated this event for the better part of this last decade.

We mentioned earlier that it’s been a long time since the Ivy League regular season champion has won the Ivy League tournament. Princeton has to get into the four-team tournament first (it’s currently in fourth place with two games to go), but if that happens, Xaivian Lee is absolutely capable of playing March hero and ruining Yale’s season.