March Madness: 5 Teams That Can lead the Cinderella Run

Posted by Eric Williams on Tuesday,March 15, 2016 7:45, EDT in

Despite their respective seedings and apparent shortcomings, five somewhat ‘under the radar’ ballclubs all have the possibility of making legitimate Cinderella Runs that could theoretically end up with one of them hoisting the 2016 national basketball championship trophy.

March Madness: 5 Teams That Can lead the Cinderella Run

The expert analysis at you’re about to get on each ballclub will give you the insight into why each team could exceed even its own expectations. Now, let’s get started.

Purdue (26-8 SU, 18-11 ATS)

I absolutely love the No. 5 seeded Boilermakers in the Midwest region. Purdue has a pair of gifted seven-footers and two other fine frontcourt players that are going to give their opponents nightmares this NCAA Tournament.  Purdue has an 84 percent chance of winning their opener, followed by a 52 percent chance of reaching the Sweet 16 and successive chances of 24, 13, 3 and three percent of winning it all.

Xavier (27-5 SU, 19-13 ATS)

The No. 2 seed in the East region is a dangerous team that has a well-balanced offense that ranked 18th in the nation in scoring (81.3 ppg). The Musketeers have been given a 94 percent chance of winning their opener against Weber State and successive percentages of 60, 29, 10, 4 and 2 of winning each of the following rounds. The bad news is that Xavier has lost twice to Seton hall over their last four games after beating previously No. 1 Villanova.

Maryland (26-7 SU, 15-14 ATS)

The No. 5 seed in the South region, Maryland is an athletic bunch that can literally beat – or be beaten by – any tem in the country. Analytics say the Terrapins have a 79 percent chance of winning their opener and successive percentages of 43, 13, 6, 3 and a one percent of bagging the national championship. Maryland’s three-point loss to Michigan State in the Big Ten conference semifinals should let you know the often underachieving ballclub can turn it on in a heartbeat against any team in the country.

Indiana (29-5 SU, 16-13 ATS)

No. 5 seed in the East region has an 88 percent chance of winning their opener, followed by successive percentages of 36, 11, 6, 3 and one percent of winning it all. More importantly, the Hoosiers have an elite point guard in Yogi Ferrell and an explosive offense that ranked 11th in the nation (82.3 ppg) and can put points on the board against anyone. Indiana also ranked third in field goal shooting percentage and fifth in three-point shooting, so clearly, this team can put the ball in the hole when they want to!

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Seton Hall (26-7 SU, 15-15 ATS)

The No. 6 in the Midwest region has a 40 percent chance of winning their opener, a 17 percent chance of winning their potential third round matchup and a five percent chance of winning their next contest.

Analytics have given the Pirates a two percent chance of getting out of the Elite Eight, a one percent chance of getting out of the Final Four and an identical one percent chance of bagging the national championship. No matter what ‘analytics’ say about Seton Hall’s chances, a pair of wins over Xavier and a two-point loss to Villanova tells me the Pirates can beat any team on any given day.