(Photo : (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)) ALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – MARCH 20: Detail of a basketball on the courtroom forward of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Delta Center on March 20, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The March Madness NCAA Tournament is ready to kick off this week.
This 12 months’s area of 68 is filled with groups seeking to make a Cinderella run.
While it could be straightforward to guess on the favorites, it will be laborious to disregard a number of darkish horse groups which have proven all through the faculty basketball season that they’ll go on a run.
Here are some darkish horses to observe within the event that may wreck some brackets this 12 months.
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NCAA Tournament Dark Horses: McNeese State Cowboys
The No.12 seed McNeese State Cowboys are set to face the No.5 Gonzaga on Thursday.
The Cowboys, led by head coach Will Wade, wish to construct on a stellar season during which they went 30-3 and 17-1 together with a powerful event efficiency.
Based on their play this season, they may shock the world with a win over the Bulldogs.
During the season they constructed a popularity for capturing the ball effectively, a decent 38.8 % from past the arch. McNeese State additionally restricted turnovers, turning into one of the crucial environment friendly groups in school basketball.
Despite the Cowboys’ good play, Gonzaga has confirmed to be a troublesome group this season.
Under Mark Fews, the Bulldogs completed with a 25-7 report as they continued to look potent regardless of shedding within the WCC event.
The Bulldogs often is the straightforward guess right here primarily based on event expertise and a group stuffed with seniors and juniors, whereas McNeese’s lack of expertise enjoying in opposition to any Quad 1 and Quad 2 golf equipment might present up in opposition to the Zags. However, they should not be counted out because the Cowboys will depend on their high-octane offense to maintain them within the sport in opposition to Gonzaga.
NCAA Tournament Dark Horses: Duquesne Dukes
The No.11 Duquesne Dukes will face the No.6 BYU Cougars within the first spherical of the NCAA Tournament.
This shall be Dukes’ first time making the NCAA event bid since 1977.
Duquesne are constructing off a powerful season during which they received the Atlantic 10 Conference, defeating VCU 57-51 to punch their ticket in.
They knocked off extra well-known groups like Dayton and St. Bonaventure on their highway to turning into the A10 Conference Champions, exhibiting they do belong within the NCAA Tournament. The Dukes completed the season 24-11 total.
Now they face a troublesome Cougar squad, who, regardless of an unpleasant loss within the Big 12 Tournament to Texas Tech, are a group constructed for March Madness with expertise.
Duquesne could possibly be the event’s Cinderella story, they usually may accomplish that by successful in opposition to a extremely good BYU Cougars group.
The Dukes are led by guard Dae Dae Grant, who led the group in scoring at 16.9 factors per sport. Grant goes to be seeking to give a big-time efficiency for the Dukes, and it is no time just like the NCAA Tournament to make a reputation for your self.
NCAA Tournament Dark Horses: Akron Zips
The No.14 Akron Zips are set to tackle the No.3 Creighton Bluejays on Thursday.
The Zips shall be making their sixth journey to an NCAA Tournament, the primary since 2022 after they misplaced within the first spherical.
Arkon had a powerful season, incomes a event bid within the Mid-American Conference, knocking out Kentucky State.
Creighton is a troublesome squad, one of many higher groups within the Big East, they usually do have the expertise to doubtlessly make some noise within the event.
The Bluejays are led by Trey Alexander and Mason Miller, each of whom had robust seasons.
Still, Akron can put collectively the upset. The Akron Zips are a group that scores behind their deadly guard rotation in Greg Tribble and Ali Ali together with Enrique Freeman, who’s the group’s main scorer.
Akron additionally does an awesome job in defensive rotation and will make it laborious for the Creighton Bluejays all night time.
Read More: NCAA Tournament Dark Horse: Nevada Wolf Pack on the Attack
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