Possible Sleepers

Today I'll look at some teams that have a shot to pull off some upsets, be it double digit seeds (do we call those high seeds or low seeds?), some better ranked teams that might go deeper than their seed would suggest. Let's look at it region by region.

Atlanta
#11 Southern Illinois - They pose lots of matchup problems for West Virginia in round 1. The Mountaineers rely on precision and 3-point shooting. These should be hampered a lot by the Salukis tough defense. If they would get by West Virginia, they'd probably play Iowa, which plays the same style as them. The first team to 40 might win in that potential meeting.

#12 Texas A&M - This could be one of the best #12 seeds of all-time. They are a talented team that beat Texas not long ago, and they get a matchup against a streaking but inconsistent Syracuse team. A&M is also a very solid defensive team.

#14 Northwestern St. - Led by a whole bunch of upperclassmen... 5 of their top 6 scorers are upperclassmen. They played teams like Wichita St., Iowa St., Utah St., and Oklahoma St. tough (wow, that's a lot of state teams), even winning a couple of them. They are a dangerous 14 seed.

Oakland
#11 SD State - This is a team I really like. They are very solid offensively, have a lot of talent, and they are balanced. On the outside, Brandon Heath averages 18.5 per game. Inside, Marcus Slaughter averages 16.6 points and 11 rebounds. Florida transfer Mohamed Akubar averaged 14 points and 5 rebounds. They come in having won 16 of 18 games.

Washington D.C.

#10 Seton Hall - Another team with a lot of seniors, they went 9-7 in the Big East. Wichita St. is not an easy game, but if they get by that, a date with the weakest #2 seed looms.

#11 George Mason - Led by Jai Lewis they are a capable team. They have 5 players scoring in double figures, and a decent matchup in Michigan St., who is talented but very inconsistent. The thing that could hurt them is that starter Tony Skinn is suspended for one game.

Minneapolis
#7 Georgetown - They have good height, some depth, and they are very solid defensively. Offensively, they are efficient with their variation of the Princeton offense. They could scare some higher seeds.

#11 Wisconin-Milwaukee - They were a Cinderella team last year, getting to the Sweet 16, so teams won't overlook them. Led by the three seniors - Joah Tucket, Adrian Tigert, and Boo Davis, they are a dangerous team.