March Madness: Three Cinderella Teams Barge Into the Sweet Sixteen
March Madness has given us some pretty exciting basketball games lately. Aside from the numerous overtime games, it has been quite a tournament with several upsets as lower seeded teams came out victorious over higher ranked teams. The way that this single elimination tournament has been designed gives even lower ranked basketball teams to have that opportunity to come out on top if the team has the deep talent and the proper championship motivation. The upsets are the part that makes the tournament quite exciting and unpredictable at times.
And as expected, we have not been spared of witnessing several upsets. Several Cinderella teams have come out to make their presence known and create an exciting story arc for this year. However, by the time of the Round of 32 ended, only three lower seeded college basketball teams remain to fight another day. 10th ranked Stanford, 11th ranked Dayton, and 11th ranked Tennessee barged into the Sweet Sixteen to keep their championship hopes alive.
The Dayton Flyers proved to be the exciting Cinderella team to watch this year. After an impressive showing as it dispatched the 6th seeded Ohio State Buckeyes, it also defeated the 3rd seeded Syracuse Orange in the Round of 32. Both games were very closely fought games that showed the team’s composure during crunch time.
Not to be outdone are the Stanford Cardinals. Ranked 10th in the tournament, it defeated the New Mexico Lobos in the Round of 64. But it was the team’s win over the 2nd ranked Kansas Jayhawks that caught the attention of the other teams still in the tournament. It is likewise for the 11th seed Tennessee Volunteers, which defeated the 6th ranked Massachusetts Minutemen and then steamrolled over another would-be Cinderella team, Mercer Bears, in the round of 32.
Fans of the Cinderella teams still in the tournament are eagerly awaiting the Sweet Sixteen games to see how the teams will fare competing against tougher teams. It is a sure thing that at least one Cinderella team will advance into the Elite Eight since the one game will be between two Cinderella teams going head to head, Stanford Cardinals against the Dayton Flyers on March 28. The Tennessee Volunteers will try to continue their Cinderella journey in the tournament against 2nd ranked Michigan Wolverines on March 29.