NCAA Tournament: Ranking all 68 teams in the Big Dance

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 19: The Cameron Crazies taunt Ty Jerome #11 of the Virginia Cavaliers during the second half of their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 19, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 72-70. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

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LAS VEGAS, NV – NOVEMBER 24: Leonard of UCI. /

Double-digit Cinderella favorites

52. Old Dominion Monarchs (26-8, 13-5 CUSA) – No. 14 seed

Old Dominion, in my opinion, is a team that too many people are overlooking. On the whole, the CUSA was one of the most competitive leagues in the country this season and that caused the losses to pile up for the Monarchs although many of them were against relatively strong teams. And while many other mid-majors do not own any high-quality wins, ODU can boast victories over VCU and Syracuse. With a strong backcourt of Ahmad Caver and B.J. Stith leading the way, this is not a team to overlook.

51. New Mexico State Aggies (30-4, 15-1 WAC) – No. 12 seed

New Mexico State has not lost since Jan. 3. I think that pretty much summarizes why I have them so high on my list right now. The Aggies are clearly among the hottest teams in the country right now and that has to count for something. I know that their strength of schedule isn’t great but there aren’t that many teams in the nation who could go 15-1 in the WAC. The Aggies boast a highly-efficient offense that can dominate the paint but, more importantly, they are a superb team on the glass. NMSU ranks in the top-10 in both offensive and defensive rebounding rate.

50. Vermont Catamounts (27-6, 14-2 AE) – No. 13 seed

Vermont barely missed the NCAA Tournament a year ago and they will be making up for lost time in their appearance this time around. With Anthony Lamb running the show, the Catamounts have one of the best mid-major players in the country and his supporting cast is quite strong as well. By efficiency measures, Vermont is not particularly great in any facet of the game outside of defensive rebounding, where they rank second in the nation. With this said, though, they also almost never make mistakes and have very few weaknesses.

49. UC Irvine Anteaters (30-5, 15-1 BW) – No. 13 seed

Alright. I love UC Irvine as a Cinderella pick. By efficiency measures, the Anteaters might not look tremendous but their defensive system makes scoring tremendously difficult. This is due to the fact that head coach Russell Turner preaches strong perimeter defense that prevents open looks from three and limits ball movement. Additionally, his team is allowing the lowest opponent 2P% in the country. UC Irvine has a very deep roster and will almost always have fresh legs on the court. The Anteaters are entering the NCAA Tournament as winners of 15 straight games.

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