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2019 NCAA Tournament: Who will be the 2019 UMBC? 5 likely candidates

By Jacob Lane

CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: K.J. Maura #11 and teammate Jourdan Grant #5 of the UMBC Retrievers celebrate their 74-54 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - MARCH 16: K.J. Maura #11 and teammate Jourdan Grant #5 of the UMBC Retrievers celebrate their 74-54 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /
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NASHVILLE, TN – MARCH 16: D’Marcus Simonds #15 of the Georgia State Panthers drives to the basket against Gary Clark #11 of the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Bridgestone Arena on March 16, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN – MARCH 16: D’Marcus Simonds #15 of the Georgia State Panthers drives to the basket against Gary Clark #11 of the Cincinnati Bearcats in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Bridgestone Arena on March 16, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /

Georgia State

Seed: 14

Matchup: No. 3 Houston 

Last year we watched Ron Hunter’s team, for what felt like the 15th year in a row, go up against a team from a more prestigious conference with legitimate tournament hopes and play like they belonged.

While the Panthers didn’t pull off the upset against No. 2 seed Cincinnati in 2018 like they did against Baylor in 2015, they were more than competitive until the end, and the majority of it was because of one player: D’Marcus Simonds.

It seemed last year that Simonds could make his way to the NBA Draft just off of this performance. One of the best defensive teams in the country was getting torched by a kid from Georgia State, almost singlehandedly.

Once again, the Panthers are back in the tournament (with Simonds back for his junior season), and once again they will look to do the unthinkable — knock off a top-three seed, this time Houston. What’s different this year is that Simonds won’t have to do it alone.

The reigning Sun Belt champions will head into the NCAA Tournament with five double-digit scorers, led by Simonds’ 18.4 points per game, compared to just three last season. While Houston is one of the best non-power five schools of the last few years, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see an extremely talented offensive team like GSU pull off the upset.

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