MTSU Basketball: 5 reasons Blue Raiders will be the Cinderella of the 2017 NCAA Tournament

MTSU Basketball will be a popular pick to win their first game of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, but this team looks dangerously capable of winning more than one game.

Last season, the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders shocked the college basketball world with an upset over the Michigan State Spartans.

When the 2016 NCAA Tournament bracket was announced, I, like most others, believed the Spartans to be a lock to move on to the next round. Before the bracket was announced, I thought MTSU would be one of the surprises of the tournament, but it’s hard to bet against Tom Izzo and the Spartans in March. Naturally, Kermit Davis and Co. proved everyone – including me – wrong with one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history.

Both of these teams suffered a bit due to the Selection Committee’s bad decision making – MTSU clearly deserved to be higher than a 15-seed, and Michigan State should have been a No. 1 seed. Heading into the 2017 NCAA Tournament, the Selection Committee has, once again, made a mistake in the Blue Raiders’ seeding. This time, however, it works in their favor.

MTSU, seeded at No. 12, will face the No. 5 seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament. This is a clearly winnable game, and the Blue Raiders are even currently favored in Vegas. In fact, it wouldn’t be crazy to say that their second game against the winner of the No. 4 Butler Bulldogs and No. 13 Winthrop Eagles is winnable as well.

MTSU is set up for a deep NCAA Tournament run and should be a clear favorite to be the Cinderella of the 2017 edition of March Madness. Here are five reasons the Blue Raiders will do just that.