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

By Jacob Lane | Mar 20, 2019

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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ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 10: Bradley players pose with the championship trophy after winning the Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament championship game between the UNI Panthers and Bradley Braves on March 10, 2019, at Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Bradley

Seed: 15

Matchup: No. 2 Michigan State

You’ve probably seen Bradley in the news the last few days after comments from head coach Brian Wardle stole the spotlight from the Braves’ major accomplishment of making the NCAA tournament. But they are here because they have had some major success over the last month of the season.

After starting their season 11-12, and 3-7 in Missouri Valley play (including losing five straight), the Braves finally began to click, going on a 9-2 run down the stretch of the season and earning an automatic bid into the NCAA by winning the MVC tournament.

Thirteen years after making the Sweet 16, the Bradley Braves are back looking to do the impossible once again. But in order to advance past the round of 64, Wardle’s team will have to go through another hot team, the Michigan State Spartans.

The Braves don’t do a ton of scoring, having just two double-digit scorers on the team, however they can be fairly lethal from deep. It’s not too often that a team with players at each position is able to step out and make three-pointers consistently, but that’s exactly what the Braves can do. They currently shoot a little over 36 percent from deep, which is ranked 58th in the country, while Michigan State allows opposing offenses to shoot 32 percent from behind the line.

While offense isn’t necessarily their strong suit, Bradley has thrived down the back half of the season on the defensive end, particularly with shot-blocking, where they rank 32nd overall in the country.

There’s little chance anyone else in their right mind would believe that the Braves should be picked to upset Michigan State, but to ignore the fact that the Spartans has been upset by an 11- and a 15-seed in two of the last four years would be ignoring history.

While the Braves don’t quite have the talent to run with the Spartans, we’ve seen Tom Izzo’s team crumble under the double-digit seed pressure and if there’s one thing the Braves know how to do, it’s close games.

While it may be wise to pick the Spartans to win nine out of 10 times, this could be on the one time for Bradley.

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