College Basketball: Early Auto-Bids Full Of Bracket Busting Potential
By Jacob Rude
The key to any perfect bracket for March Madness is finding that mid-major school who will destroy brackets and ruin the hopes of the power houses. It’s what makes college basketball so amazing, especially in the month of March.
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We remember the likes of George Mason and Florida Gulf Coast for their improbable runs and fearlessness. Ali Farokmanesh was a household name for a month and Brad Stevens was quickly donned a top coach in college basketball after Cinderella runs.
Let’s be honest, though. There’s no real science to predicting which team will bust brackets. For the next two weeks, you’ll hear about every underdog in the bracket at some point being a potential bracket buster. If you keep chucking up shots, one of them is bound to fall.
What we can do is look at the bracket busting potential of the teams in the first weekend (and Monday) who grabbed automatic bids. We’re going to exclude Northern Iowa because they’re a likely 4-seed and you don’t bust brackets as a four seed.
These four teams fit the bill as potential Bracket Busters: small schools who will likely be lower seeds who could upset their foes and wreak havoc come Big Dance time. Let’s rank the four automatic bids based on their chances of making noise in the tournament.
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