NCAA Basketball: Top 25 NCAA Tournament cinderellas since 2000
By Adam Childs
17) 2004 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, No. 3-seed
Record: 28-10, National Runner-Up
Beat: (14) Northern Iowa Panthers, (6) Boston College Eagles, (10) Nevada Wolfpack, (4) Kansas Jayhawks, (2) Oklahoma State Cowboys
How exactly does a No. 3-seed become a cinderella? A team that started off the season 12-0 and got ranked as high as No. 3. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets would beat the No. 1 ranked UConn Huskies early in the year, as well as the Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Hells. So why is Georgia Tech on this list of cinderella teams?
First off, despite the great start and big wins, the Yellow Jackets would finish just 9-7 in the ACC and in fourth place. They would then get blown out by Duke in the ACC Tournament and became a surprise No. 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament. They rode their big wins earlier in the year to a high seed, but many didn’t think they should have been seeded that high.
The Yellow Jackets were loaded with talent, but even then the nation just didn’t think they would keep winning. Not to mention, Georgia Tech wasn’t exactly winning in dominant fashion.
They would beat the Northern Iowa Panthers by five, the Boston College Eagles by three and the Nevada Wolf Pack by five. In the Elite Eight, they needed overtime to beat the Kansas Jayhawks. The run kept on going when Will Bynum hit a shot in the closing seconds to shock the Oklahoma State Cowboys to make it to the National Championship game.
Part of having a cinderella run is falling in love with a player on the team. That player was 7-foot-1 junior Luke Schenscher. He was a big man with curly red hair and the country loved it. He was not your prototypical center, but he came up big in the tournament and it had everyone rooting the Yellow Jackets. They became the team the nation wanted to see win the NCAA Tournament.
They came close, but UConn would get their revenge in the National Championship game, beating them by nine. Georgia Tech just didn’t have any answers for Emeka Okafor (24 points) and Ben Gordon (21 points).
The Cinderella run would end just short of a national title, but Georgia Tech seemed to be one of the least likely No. 3-seeds to make it that far. That impressive run to the national title bout makes them a Cinderella.