Final Four Sleepers Who Could Wake Up for the Dance

They lay there quietly, their eyes tightly closed in a light but sound sleep.  Thoughts of cutting through nylon high atop the world ruminates in their dreams.  Suddenly an alarm clock sounds, and they awake from their slumber.  It's tournament time, and the sleepers can sleep no more.

In a college basketball season marked by turmoil at the top, the toughest thing about putting together a bracket is trying to find the sleeper of the dance.  The big guns are beatable this year.  The Final Four will not be reminiscent of last year.  Top seeds will fall just as they have done all year long.

Sleepers can come from just about anywhere.  I'm not talking about your Western Kentuckys and Creightons of the world.  I'm talking about a different kind of sleeper; a team that can win the whole darn thing.  Remember Syracuse in 2003?  They didn't necessarily come out of nowhere.  They were a good basketball team, but you didn't hear Bilas and Digger picking them for a title run.

A sleeper can't be a one or two seed, obviously.  It's gotta be a team that has been outside of the top ten for most of the year.  In essence, they are on the map but off the radar.

First, you have to identify some necessary qualities for a good sleeper.  Senior leadership is huge during March Madness.  There is no tangible quality that transcends a senior's desire to play one more collegiate game. 

Another attractive quality for teams poised to make a covert run is great guard play.  Look for the Andre Millers and Dwayne Wades of the world.  Neither won a championship, but nor was a championship out of reach. It certainly can't hurt to have a reliable guard handling the rock during crunch time.

Next, show me the big man.  Streaky shooters can go cold.  Big fellas have to be dealt with in the paint.  There has to be a play maker on the inside when the offense needs a score.  He doesn't have to account for a huge chunk of the offense, but he gets the "big buckets" that may go unnoticed. 

Finally, look for a team that can knock down shots from the charity stripe.  Games get tighter during tournament time.  How many buzzer beaters would have been erased if a guy hadn't just missed the front end of a one-and-one with a couple of seconds remaining?  Proficiency at the free throw line is gigantic.

So Here's my 2003 Syracuse:  the Villanova Wildcats.

You don't really hear anyone talking about Villanova being a team that can win it all.  Primarily, it's because they are overshadowed in a loaded conference. Unless they take home the Big East tournament title, they will most likely grab a three or four seed.  The Wildcats are dangerous enough to cut down the nets in Detroit.

Senior leader Daunte Cunningham has emerged as one of the premier big men in the Big East.  He leads Nova in scoring at 16.3 points per game and rebounds at 7.3 per game. Fellow forward and Senior Dwayne Anderson chips in 7.7 ppg and 5.7 rpg.  Together they provide both the Senior leadership and the accountability in the paint.

You'll be pressed to find similar depth and talent at the guard position anywhere else in the country compared to Villanova.  Scotty Reynolds is about as good as it gets.  If you stop right there, you're doing fine.  Add Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes, and Reggie Redding into the mix and things get serious.  During crunch time, Scotty Reynolds gets the nod, but any of the other three can light you up at any time.

As a team they shoot 74 percent from the free throw line.  Reynolds and Fisher shoot around 83 percent.  It Doesn't get any better than that.  If Memphis would have shot anywhere near 74 percent from the line last year, they would have taken the title from Kansas with relative ease. 

Now, as a disclaimer, Villanova could be an early exit that causes me to scratch through my bracket with a painful sigh.  You have to take some risks to win your bracket.  That's the nature of the beast.  It sure beats taking four number one seeds to Detroit.  Where's the genius in that?