Cinderella Madness Simulated College Basketball Tournament: UNLV vs VCU

Cinderella Madness

WhatIfSports.com and CollegeHoops.net have partnered up to bring you Cinderella Madness 2012.

This college basketball simulation tournament features 16 of the most memorable Cinderella stories from the past eight seasons. We invited teams outside the Big Six conferences, seeded 7th or lower that advanced to the Sweet 16 or beyond in their bracket to participate.

Utilizing our award-winning college basketball simulation engine, we "played" each matchup 501 times.

View the 16-team Cinderella Madness bracket

The mere mention of Georgetown's Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje excites college basketball fanatics as he does possess one of the catchiest names of all-time. The seven-foot, 260-pound post player paved the way for two other big men of Cameroonian descent to leave their mark during the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

UCLA's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute may have led his Bruins to the Final Four that season, but on this day and in this game, UNLV's Gaston Essengue experienced his one shining moment.

Held to only two points the entire second half, Essengue connected on a jumper in the game's final seconds to hand his Rebels a 72-70 win and punch their ticket to the Cinderella Madness title game.

Wendell White led the Rebels with 16 points, while Joey Rodriguez finished with 16 for the Rams in the loss.

Player of the game: Kevin Kruger (15 points, 8 assists, 3 steals)

Winning Percentage of 501 Simulations: '07 UNLV 51.9% - '11 VCU 48.1%