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What's up RotoBallers. March Madness is officially here, and the tournament is right around the corner. RotoBaller's coverage of the tournament includes a great guide to filling out your brackets, a breakdown of each region, and some sleeper picks.
Today I'm here to give you some NCAA tournament sleepers - teams that you should target in your brackets. I'll be giving you one or two sleepers from each region, so let's get to it.
Editor's Note: Be sure to check out the rest of our NCAA tournament columns and advice. Tournament winners/picks, sleepers, busts and breakdowns of each region.
NCAA Tournament Sleepers
East Region Sleeper Picks
#8 Wisconsin Badgers - Big 10
I wrote about them in my guide to fill out your brackets column. I wrote, "Wisconsin made a Sweet 16 run last year and returns the exact same starting lineup." Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig started in the 2015 National Championship game. This team has veterans. If they can get by Virginia Tech in the first round, Villanova awaits in the second round. Wisconsin and Villanova are both veteran, battle tested teams. That game will be decided by less than five points, and the winner is my pick to go to the Final Four.
#12 UNC- Wilmington - Colonial Athletic Association
I wrote about this team in my busts column. Here is what I wrote,
"You may remember UNC- Wilmington form last year's tournament. They were a 13- seed and gave fourth- seeded Duke all they could handle in the first round, losing by eight. The Seahawks score 85 points per game, 10th in the nation. As described above, a good shooting day for UNC- Wilmington will prove to be Virginia's demise."
I think it's possible we see a UNC- Wilmington can make a Sweet 16 run. They would face either Florida or East Tennessee State. Florida is no gimme over East Tennessee and UNC- Wilmington is capable of beating Florida. Perhaps this team will be the tournament's first weekend darling.
Midwest Region Sleeper Picks
#11 Rhode Island
I covered the Creighton- Rhode Island game in my busts column. I wrote,
"Ever since star point guard Maurice Watson went down for the season with a torn ACL, this team hasn't looked the same.
They face Rhode Island in the first round. Rhode Island was a preseason top- 25 team, but had some early season struggles. They've won their last eight, including the Atlantic 10 championship. Vegas has this game as a pick' em."
Rhode Island is capable of hanging with Oregon into second round.
#13 Vermont
I went into great length about this team in my Midwest region breakdown. I wrote,
"Vermont trailed in the second half of the America East tournament and it looked like they would be upset. But then they clawed back finding a way to win. Albany hit a jumper with 4:11 remaining and that was the last field goal they would make. Vermont's defense tightened up, forcing three turnovers in that span, and allowing three points, all on free throws.
The Catamounts own the nation's longest winning streak, 21 games. Their lass loss came at Butler on December 21 of 2016. They ran through the America East going a perfect 16-0 in conference. They are 14th in the nation in scoring margin, 12.2 points. They also cleaned up the conference awards. Rookie of the Year went to forward Anthony Lamb, whose scored in double figures in the last eight games. Darren Payen won 6th Man of the Year. Dre Willis was the Defensive Player of the Year, and their coach, John Becker, won Coach of the Year honors.
As you can guess, the America East Player of the Year went to point guard Trae Bell- Haynes. He may not light up the scoreboard, but he's an pesky point guard who plays terrific defense. He doesn't take plays off and hones the most important trait for a point guard: unselfishness. He loves the slash and kick play. This season, Bell- Haynes has averaged 11.2 points per game on 50% shooting, 3.8 assists, and one steal per game.
Vermont will give Purdue all they can handle and push this game to the wire. Purdue lacks a go to scorer and will be upset in the first round in consecutive seasons."
South Region Sleeper Picks
#9 Seton Hall
I wrote in my South region breakdown,
"Hall took Villanova to the wire on Friday night, losing on a put back and-one with 10 seconds left. Seton Hall was 10 seconds away from beating the number- one overall seed Friday night. They are are capable of playing with the best of the best."
If Seton Hall gets by Arkansas in the first round, then I think they have a really good chance to upset Carolina.
#12 Middle Tennessee State
I wrote in my busts column, "Minnesota is a one- point underdog to Middle Tennessee State. Yes, the 15- seed that beat Michigan State last year and ruined many brackets is back to upset another Big 10 school."
I am so confident in this upset, and Vegas only furthers my belief.
West Region Sleeper Pick
#11 Xavier - Big East
Xavier is only a two- point underdog to sixth- seeded Maryland in the first round. Maryland doesn't scare me. It depends which Terps team shows up though. If they play lazily– they have several times this season– they will lose. If they play well, the game will still be close. Xavier's second round matchup would be against Florida State. Xavier could win that game, as well.
