March Madness 2021: 5 mid-majors that can make Sweet 16 of NCAA Tournament

These five mid-major teams could go on a Cinderella run and reach the Sweet 16 in March Madness.

One of the best parts of the NCAA Tournament is figuring out who this year’s Cinderellas will be. Everyone knows that a team from a Power 5 league is likely to win the tournament but identifying those bracket busters who can go on deep runs is always a challenge.

This year’s NCAA Tournament bracket has more mid-majors in it than usual thanks to what appears to be a conscious effort from the selection committee to reward more of the high-achieving mid-majors instead of mediocre power conference squads. Let’s take a look at five programs poised to wear the glass slipper this year, starting with Loyola-Chicago.

5 mid-majors who can get to the Sweet 16 in March Madness

5. Loyola-Chicago

Having experience getting deep into March helps and Loyola-Chicago has that in spades. Porter Moser guided his team to the Final Four in 2018 when Sister Jean became a cultural icon and this Ramblers’ team might be even better, ranking inside the Top 10 of the NCAA’s NET rankings and the KenPom efficiency ratings.

Loyola-Chicago has a tricky road to get to the Sweet 16, facing a first-round matchup against No. 9 Seed Georgia Tech before facing top-seeded Illinois in the Sweet 16. Center Cameron Krutwig is a matchup problem and was a key role player on the Ramblers’ Final Four team so he knows what it takes to get deep, making Loyola-Chicago a dangerous out in March.

4. Utah State Aggies

The Mountain West was a rugged league this season and Utah State did well to earn the conference’s second bid to the NCAA Tournament. The selection committee showed the Aggies a ton of respect, giving them a clean No. 11 seed to avoid the First Four, thanks in large part to a regular-season sweep of San Diego State.

Utah State also has a potential game-wrecker in center Neemias Queta, who averages a double-double and is a defensive force in the paint. The Aggies will face a tough Texas Tech team in the first round and could face Arkansas in the Round of 32, but Queta’s presence is the key to a rugged defense that can help Utah State make some noise.

3. St. Bonaventure Bonnies

The A-10’s surprise champion, St. Bonaventure has proven it is a very dangerous team throughout the course of the season. Point guard Kyle Lofton is one of five Bonnies to average double-figures and offers the kind of rugged leadership that can guide a team deep into March.

Mark Schmidt’s team is also stout defensively, giving up just 60.4 points per game, which should help them out against an LSU team that is an offensive juggernaut but has trouble stopping its foes. A win there would set the Bonnies up with a vulnerable Michigan team that may be down Isaiah Livers, creating an opportunity for St. Bonaventure to deliver the kind of upset that could shatter brackets across the country.

2. Winthrop Eagles

One key to finding a Cinderella candidate is looking for a high-achieving mid-major that can score the basketball at will. Winthrop fits the formula to a T, coming into the NCAA Tournament averaging nearly 80 points per game and going 23-1 in the Big South, with the one defeat coming by a bucket.

The Eagles have a fortunate first-round draw in Villanova, which has lost star guard Collin Gillespie to a knee injury and hasn’t looked the same without him, creating a big opportunity for the 12-5 upset. A matchup with Purdue could loom in the second round but the Boilermakers are not in the same weight class as the Big Ten’s top dogs, which could create an opportunity for Winthrop to punch its ticket to the Sweet 16.

1. Ohio Bobcats

It feels like there is an unheralded player who emerges every year at the NCAA Tournament and this year’s top pick for that designation is Ohio’s Jason Preston. A legitimate NBA prospect, Preston averages 16.6 points per game and helps facilitate a Bobcats’ offense that averages over 80 points per game while knocking down 36.1 percent of its three-point attempts. This team has also demonstrated it can play well against high-level competition, losing by a bucket at Illinois in the non-conference portion of the schedule, with Preston going for 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds in that game.

Ohio has a very winnable first-round game against Virginia, which will have very limited practice time with most of the roster in quarantine after a positive test at the ACC Tournament, and the Bobcats’ perimeter shooting success combined with the Cavaliers’ propensity to play low-scoring games makes an upset a strong possibility. The second round would likely bring a matchup with Creighton, which can shoot the lights out of the gym but has a ton of trouble defending, so outdueling the Bluejays in a shootout could make the Bobcats a Cinderella candidate ahead of a Sweet 16 showdown with Gonzaga.

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