March Madness 2012 Bracket: Non-Traditional Powers That Will Make Deep Runs

This will be a year where some college basketball programs you didn't know a lot about demand your attention, and the attention of the rest of the country. Yes, you'll have your big-name programs that you see every year, but these ones are ready to steal the show. They will do just that. 

Florida State

The only word that comes to mind with this team is impressive. They do not shrink from any challenges, which is the mentality you want to see from an NCAA team.

Depending on what happens against North Carolina on Sunday, they will be a three or four seed, and I don't consider them "heavy" underdogs against anyone. 

Against Duke and North Carolina, they will be at worst 3-2 heading into the tournament. Considering the absolute dominance those teams have over the ACC for for the last 30 or more years, that is exactly what you want to see.  

They have three players over 10 points a game, three more over seven, and two just below that. This is a fantastic team with the brashness to win it all. I would not expect to see this team go out any before the Elite Eight, and they could easily do better than that. 

Murray State

Follow along here. This is a Top 40 team in points per game who is Top 25 in the country in shooting percentage. That looks normal, but the fact that the top two scorers (Isaiah Canaan and Donte Poole) on this team are both guards. 

That means that they shoot extremely well, which is impossible to defend against in the tournament. You can put defensive packages together to stop a big man, or delay penetration, but there is very little you can do against a guy who shoots well from long range. 

Like Florida State, this is a team that will make a run to at least the Elite Eight, probably dropping a stalwart program or two along the way.

Vanderbilt

The Commodores boast an outside/inside duo of John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor that comprises one of the more deadly combos in the country. 

Both players average over 15 points a game, and defenses can't really stop both. When you're facing two players capable of taking over a game, knowing that you can't stop one of them is terrifying. 

We'll have to see how the brackets come out on Sunday, but even though they're not ranked, I have this team in the Final Four. They have the makeup to make that run, as very few teams in the country are as strong at the top.

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