Six mid-major teams that had potential to be Cinderella before coronavirus canceled March Madness
Before March Madness was canceled, USA TODAY Sports was ready to examine six mid-major teams that were most capable of staging bracket-busting upsets and becoming a 2020 NCAA tournament darling.
These are the teams that were ready to surprises of the NCAA tournament.
East Tennessee State. The Buccaneers (30-4) won 12 in a row and earned an automatic bid in a Southern Conference that featured two other viable Cinderella candidates in Furman and UNC-Greensboro. ETSU handily beat LSU on the road and played top overall tourney seed Kansas tight in non-conference action. Coach Steve Forbes ran a potent four-guard offense that would’ve posed matchup problems for power conference teams. It was a balanced attack, too, with six players averaging around at least nine points a game.
Utah State. The Aggies (26-8) upset San Diego State in the Mountain West final – evidence of how they could have taken down a top-seeded team. That win was spearheaded by senior do-everything guard Sam Merrill (19.7 ppg, 3.9 apg), who had 27 points and the game-winning three-pointer. USU did a lot of things well that could have led to advancing to the second weekend, including defending the perimeter and ranking second nationally in rebounding margin (9.4).
Vermont. The Catamounts (26-7) reached three of the past four NCAA tournaments, and senior forward Anthony Lamb was a main catalyst. Lamb (16.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg) had help, including guard Stef Smith (14.2 ppg) and Everett Duncan (career-high 26 points in America East tourney semifinal win over UMBC). Vermont guarded well, ranking in the top-five nationally in points allowed (59.5 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (38%).
WHAT WOULD NBA SCHEDULE LOOK LIKE:Breaking down options and obstacles
HOW NCAA TOURNAMENT WOULD’VE LOOKED:We still played out a bracket
Belmont. Coach Rick Byrd retired last year after a 33-year career, and the Bruins didn’t miss a beat under Casey Alexander, a former Belmont player who had this team poised for a deep run in March Madness after winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament. Belmont had a strong backcourt in Adam Kunkel (16.6 ppg) and Grayson Muprhy (9.8 pp, 7.5 rpg, 6.2 apg) while 6-11 big man Nick Muszynski (25 points in the OVC title win over Murray State) shot 60% from the floor. Those three players all had experience from last year’s NCAA tournament. The Bruins shot well from beyond the arc (ranking in the top-15 nationally in treys per game), which is always a key ingredient for a major upset.
