The March Madness tournament has basketball fans on the edge of their seats ready to watch a great slate of college basketball games. March Madness is the last dance for teams to fight it out on the court and give everything they’ve got for forty minutes.
Fans are engaged by creating brackets of the entire tournament to predict who they think will win each given matchup, but every year fans receive the same outcome: it is nearly impossible to get every game right. A huge part of this is due to Cinderella teams.
Cinderella teams are teams in the tournament that are typically a higher seed that do not expect to make a deep run into the tournament, or even win a game. These teams are the reason March Madness is so special, and highlights the true sport of basketball. Below is a list of the top 5 most notable Cinderella teams in the past decade.
5) #9 FAU (Final Four) 2023
The Owls caught fire early on their historic Cinderella run by winning a tight battle that came down to the final seconds against #8 Memphis. With this win, FAU advanced and ended the dreams of #16-seeded FDU, a team that stunned the world by taking down #1 Purdue in their first round matchup. However, the Owls had a tough opponent in the next round against #4-seeded Tennessee, but managed to get by them. Once again, in the Elite 8 they faced off against a red hot #3 Kansas State team, and the Owls squeaked out a one possession win against them to lead themselves to the Final Four. But, their remarkable run came to a end against #5 San Diego State on a last second game winner.
4) #11 UCLA 2021 (Final Four)
The Bruins started off their journey in the first four play in game, going to overtime with a well respected program in Michigan State. They won the nail biter game, and faced off against #6 BYU in the round of 64. In the next round, they were battling against a unexpected opponent in #14 Abilene Christian. They stormed past them with a 20 point victory, and then upset #2 Alabama in overtime in their following matchup. Then, the Bruins went on to defeat #1 Michigan in the Elite 8. Their Final Four game was against another talented team in #1 Gonzaga. The Bruins battled hard, but fell short in overtime to a Jalen Suggs off the glass three-pointer.
3) #11 NC State 2024 (Final Four)
This group of guys was a very competitive team with great talent, connection, and coaching. Heading into the ACC tournament, they were not likely to get a chance to play in March. However, they rallied together with impressive wins to become ACC champions and earn themselves a bid for the NCAA tournament. They took this momentum heading into the tournament, and took down #6 Texas Tech and #14 Oakland in their first and second round matchups. They then managed to handle #2-seeded Marquette in the Sweet Sixteen to advance to the Elite 8 where they faced off against ACC opponent #4 Duke. After getting by the Blue Devils, they had a highly anticipated match up between star player DJ Burns and Purdue’s Zach Edey. Two of the most dominant big men in that year’s March Madness. But unfortunately, Edey was too much to handle for this truly special Cinderella run.
2) #15 Saint Peters 2022 (Elite 8)
The Saint Peter’s Peacocks stunned the world with a truly remarkable run for their basketball program. Saint Peters busted many people’s brackets by knocking out the #2-seeded powerhouse Kentucky in an overtime thriller. This win turned the heads of many college basketball fans. In the the next round, the Peacocks strolled past #7 Murray State, and then met a dominant team in #3 Purdue where they pulled out a nail-biting win. However, their miracle run fell short to the red hot #8 North Carolina Tar Heels in the Elite 8.
1) #11 Loyola Chicago 2018 (Final Four)
The historic Loyola-Chicago run will go down in history as one of the greatest Cinderella runs in March Madness. This team is one of six #11-seeded teams to reach the Final Four in all NCAA history. They began their run with a game winner against #6 Miami in the first round, and a last second go ahead bucket against #3 Tennessee in the following round. With another last second dagger in the Sweet Sixteen against #7 Nevada, the Ramblers were in the Elite 8 where they marched past #9 Kansas State with a 78-62 victory. This long, hard-fought journey fell short in the Final Four against #3 Michigan. This fantastic run by the Ramblers is something that will forever go down in history for Loyola-Chicago, and the special month of March.
