NCAA Tournament 2013 Upsets: Ranking Cinderellas with Best Chance of Advancing

Without upsets, the NCAA tournament would be nothing.

Nobody would like to see the Big Dance simply go chalk the whole way, with every top seed winning until it's all the No. 1 seeds in the Final Four. That would just get boring and predictable. March Madness is what makes college basketball so great.

Sure, the regular season might not mean as much as in college football, but that doesn't take away from the drama.

Thursday was mostly bereft of tournament-changing upsets. Many of the games were one-sided, which was quite a change from the unpredictability of the regular season.

Considering the lower seeds that have already won and those with the best chance of winning on Friday, here are the Cinderellas that have the greatest chance of making it deep in to the tourney.

4. La Salle Explorers

Many will probably write off the La Salle Explorers. But be forewarned that this is a team with victories against the Butler Bulldogs, Villanova Wildcats and Virginia Commonwealth Rams on its resume.

With Ramon Galloway and Tyreek Duren, La Salle has two players who can help take over the game. Tyrone Garland is also a bit of an X-factor for the Explorers. He's played only 24 minutes a night but  averages 13.3 points a game. He was very good in La Salle's first tournament game against the Boise State Broncos.

While inexperienced in regard to the NCAA tournament, La Salle relies on collegiate veterans. Having played a lot of good teams during the regular season, the Explorers aren't going to be overawed by a team like the Kansas State Wildcats.

3. Ole Miss Rebels

It's either feast or famine with Marshall Henderson. He could very easily lead the Ole Miss Rebels to an upset of the Wisconsin Badgers, or he could just as quickly shoot them out of the game completely.

Henderson is a high-volume shooter, so it's understandable that he would average 20.1 points a game. It should also be taken into account that he only shoots 38.5 percent from the field. The flip side is that his offense is vital for Ole Miss.

Even more important, though, might be the play of Murphy Holloway. Henderson got the headlines from the Rebels' win over the Florida Gators in the SEC tournament, but it was Holloway's 23 points and 10 rebounds that won the game.

On account of Henderson, there are too many variables involved to see Ole Miss as a favorite to make a deep run.

2. California Golden Bears

Few should have been surprised the California Golden Bears were able to get past the UNLV Rebels. The two teams played a very close game earlier in the season, with the Rebels getting a late bucket from Quintrell Thomas for the one-point win.

The Golden Bears had what was essentially a home game in San Jose and will again against the Syracuse Orange.

Many might criticize the coaching ability of Mike Montgomery, but he's a veteran of the NCAA tournament from his time with the Stanford Cardinal.

Cal also has Allen Crabbe. He was the leading scorer in the upset of UNLV and did a little bit of everything with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. Having him gives the Golden Bears a major X-factor.

1. Oregon Ducks

Similar to Cal, on one hand it's hard to consider the Oregon Ducks a Cinderella. They won their conference tournament and came in ranked 25th in the AP Poll. In terms of seeding, however, Oregon is firmly a Cinderella. After all, the George Mason Patriots were a No. 11 seed when they made their Final Four run in 2006.

The Ducks looked strong against what was a very good Oklahoma State Cowboys team. Oregon especially did a good job in reining in Marcus Smart, who went 5-of-13 from the field.

Arsalan Kazemi was a monster under the boards, recording 17 rebounds. The Saint Louis Billikens will have no answer for him if he puts together a performance that's anything close to that.

Don't forget to download your printable NCAA tournament bracket and follow the results with Bleacher Report's live bracket.

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