Mythical March Madness: 5 dark horses that would have gone far in 2020 NCAA Tournament

2. East Tennessee State Buccaneers (11-seed, Midwest Region)

There’s no question that, as a No. 11 seed facing off against the Iowa Hawkeyes in the First Round, the East Tennessee State Buccaneers would’ve been an immensely popular upset pick in March Madness. Just seeing their 30-4 overall record on the 2019-20 college basketball season is enough to make some people take the Bucs in the Round of 64.

However, there’s more to ETSU than just that and, to be sure, that’s the reason why they would’ve had more juice than just to win in the First Round. They could’ve had the goods to make a viably deep run in March Madness and etch their name in the history books in doing so (and it’s a shame that they won’t get the chance to).

Make no mistake, there were some slip-ups against inferior teams throughout the season for the Buccaneers (Mercer and Furman come to mind) but this is also a team that held their own against the No. 1 overall seed in Mythical March Madness, Kansas, and also defeated LSU by 11 points in Baton Rouge.

Furthermore, East Tennessee State has the exact recipe for the type of team that’s capable of reeling off a string of big-time upsets in the NCAA Tournament. Not only do they have a balanced team with seven players averaging 7.5 points or more per game but they rank inside the top 70 on both offense and defense in KenPom’s efficiency rankings. All of that adds up to a dangerous champion out of the SOCON capable of making a run.