March Madness 2012 Bracket: Underrated Power Conference Teams Primed for a Run

There is no such thing as a sure thing in the NCAA tournament.

A conference championship never guarantees a powerhouse program will advance to the second round, but often paints a target on its back too large to shake off en route to cutting down the nets in early April.

To put it simply, sometimes it's best to be flying under the radar come mid-March.

Here are some underrated power conference squads that are flying stealth heading into the Big Dance that are sure to make a run in whichever bracket they wind up.

Florida Gators (23-10)

Florida stumbled down the stretch, losing four of its last five games, two of which came at the hands of rival Kentucky. The two others were on the road in the SEC. The Gators will be a difficult out this March though, especially given the strength of their three-point shooting.

Billy Donovan's club knocks in nearly 10 per game, and that sort of production can overshadow any other shortcomings the Gators may have. 

Junior guard Kenny Boynton has poured in more than 100 threes this season, and is shooting 43.4 percent from deep heading into the madness of March.

Georgetown Hoyas (23-8)

The Georgetown Hoyas were an overtime loss to Cincinnati away from challenging for the Big East crown at MSG. The Hoyas survived a difficult conference schedule this season to finish fourth in the Big East regular season standings, and in the Top 25.

Georgetown will only go as far as the trio of Jason Clark, Hollis Thompson and Henry Sims take them, but that's all they will need to wreak havoc in a bracket as an underrated top seed.

The Hoyas are among the 15 best teams in the country heading into the Big Dance, but it is their tiny target that will give them the edge in the tourney's early rounds.

Indiana Hoosiers (25-8)

The Hoosiers finished the regular season in the Top 25 and just two games out of the top spot in the Big Ten standings. They won five in a row before falling to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Conference tournament quarterfinal.

Freshman Cody Zeller has been a difference-maker all season long for the Hoosiers, and promises to be the same come tourney time later this week. Zeller is averaging 15.5 PPG this year on 62.6 percent shooting from the field.

Indiana was the only team to beat the No. 1-ranked Kentucky Wildcats this season, and however fluky it may have seemed, it remains quite an accomplishment.