March Madness has arrived, and the first four potential Cinderellas have been introduced to the NCAA Tournament field. America, meet conference tournament champions North Florida, Coastal Carolina, Northern Iowa and Belmont.
Analyst William Whelan takes a quick look at each, helping you get to know a bit more about where they’ve been, and how they got here.
North Florida Ospreys (23-11, 12-2), Atlantic Sun: This is the first tournament appearance for North Florida, as they beat USC Upstate in the tournament final. Led by Dallas Moore and his 15.9 points per game, North Florida does indeed look like they’ll be headed for Dayton.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (24-9, 12-6), Big South: This will be CCU’s second straight NCAA Tournament. A year ago, they hung with top-seeded Virginia for much for the game before ultimately falling 70-59. This season, the Chanticleers have four players averaging double-figure scoring per game, and are one of the country’s best rebounding squads.
Northern Iowa Panthers (30-3, 16-2), Missouri Valley: We’ve talked about NIU quite a bit here, and for good reason. While their late season loss to Wichita State cost them the regular season conference title, their win over Illinois State in the tournament final surely made them feel a bit better. What the committee does with their seeding will be interesting, to say the least, as this team is a true contender to make a Sweet 16 run, yet again.
Belmont Bruins (22-10, 11-5), Ohio Valley: Thanks to Taylor Barnette’s ridiculous fade away three with 3.2-seconds remaining, the Bruins knocked off heavy favorite Murray State–who went undefeated through the regular conference season–and earned another trip to the Big Dance.
