Early Cinderella Candidates for 2015 NCAA Basketball Tournament

The Big Dance is still more than two months away, but it's never too early to start looking for Cinderella teams.

In trying to identify potential Cinderella teams in years past, we've been far too exclusive. Entire conferences were ruled out because of iconic programs at the top, even though it would be a huge surprise if annual bottom-feeders made the tournament and won a single game.

As a result, we were left with candidates from one-bid conferences who failed to even make that season's tournament more often than not.

Where's the fun in that?

This time around, we're identifying Cinderella candidates on a team-by-team basis. Some haven't been to the tournament in more than a decade; others have simply failed to accomplish anything in recent trips.

You might be buying stock in these 11 teams by the time the tournament arrives, but the one common thread between these teams is that no one was pegging them for the Sweet 16 before the season began.

Statistics on the following slides courtesy of ESPN.com and KenPom.com (subscription required) and are current through the start of play on Thursday, January 8. Teams are presented in alphabetical order by school.

Davidson Wildcats

USA TODAY Sports

Record: 10-3 (1-1 in Atlantic 10)

Best Wins: vs. Charlotte (92-86); vs. Richmond (81-67)

Star Player: Jack Gibbs (16.9 PPG, 4.8 APG, 1.7 SPG, 44.1 3P%)

Why a Cinderella?

Once one of the greatest Cinderella stories in NCAA history, Davidson hasn't won a tournament game in the past seven years, competing in just two of those tournaments.

After making the jump from the Southern Conference to the A-10 this summer, most experts gave Davidson no chance of making this year's tournament. I went so far as to suggest the Wildcats could go 0-18 while adjusting to their new conference.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

As has always been the case under Bob McKillop, Davidson shoots a ton of three-pointers. If and when the Wildcats start playing defense, they could be a very dangerous team.

According to KenPom.com (subscription required), they have ranked in the top 63 in the country in percentage of shots coming from three-point range in each of the past 13 years. This year has been no different, and they're currently making those shots at a higher clip than any of those previous seasons, shooting 39.4 percent against D-I opponents.

It hasn't been a one-man show, either. Five different Wildcats have averaged at least one made three-pointer per game. Three of those five players are shooting better than 43.5 percent from downtown.

Thus far, that up-tempo, high-scoring offense has been enough to make up for ranking 225th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. If Davidson is able to win enough games in conference to make the tournament, hot shooting could propel this team to a few upsets.

It certainly wouldn't be the first time.

Eastern Washington Eagles

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

Record: 11-4 (2-0 in Big Sky)

Best Wins: at Indiana (88-86); at San Francisco (81-76)

Star Player: Tyler Harvey (23.4 PPG, 69-of-138 3FG)

Why a Cinderella?

In 31 years as a D-I school, Eastern Washington has been to one NCAA tournament. The Eagles earned a No. 15 seed in the 2004 tournament before getting blown out by Oklahoma State in the opening round.

2003-04 was the most recent season in which they won more than 15 games.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

Seven years ago, Davidson had arguably the best shooter of the past decade. The Wildcats were able to make a run all the way to the Elite Eight by allowing Stephen Curry to just keep shooting until his arms fell off. He averaged 22.5 field-goal attempts in those four games.

Why couldn't Tyler Harvey do the exact same thing?

The sharpshooter has made at least three three-pointers against every D-I opponent that Eastern Washington has faced this season. He is leading the nation in scoring and has registered at least 16 points in all 15 games.

Harvey also has one heck of a running mate in Venky Jois (19.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.8 BPG) who could help make up for the fact that this team doesn't play defense at anything close to the level of that 2007-08 Davidson team.

Georgia State Panthers

USA TODAY Sports

Record: 9-5 (2-1 in Sun Belt)

Best Wins: vs. Green Bay (72-48)

Star Player: R.J. Hunter (19.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.6 APG, 2.0 SPG)

Why a Cinderella?

The Panthers have not been to the NCAA tournament since 2001.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

For most of the season, Georgia State has been a two-man show with Ryan Harrow and R.J. Hunter doing their best Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant impersonations. The backcourt studs have been responsible for 57.2 percent of the team's field-goal attempts.

However, Georgia State has unquestionably been at its best when getting help from a third wheel.

T.J. Shipes had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the key win over Green Bay. Marcus Crider had 13 points and 10 rebounds last week in a 20-point win over Louisiana-Monroe. Kevin Ware had 21 points off the bench on Saturday to pace the Panthers to a win over Arkansas-Little Rock.

In losses to Iowa State, Old Dominion and the second game against Green Bay, those guys had little to no impact as the opposing teams focused on stopping the stars.

Georgia State will obviously need strong performances from Harrow and Hunter to do some tournament damage—losing a home game to Texas State because Hunter posted the worst single-game O-rating of his career is more than enough evidence for that—but the Panthers could go on a memorable run with consistent output from any or all of those role players.

Northern Iowa Panthers

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Record: 12-2 (1-1 in Missouri Valley)

Best Wins: vs. Iowa (56-44); at Stephen F. Austin (79-77)

Star Player: Seth Tuttle (13.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 3.2 APG)

Why a Cinderella?

The Panthers had a memorable 2010 NCAA tournament, eliminating No. 1 overall seed Kansas en route to a Sweet 16 appearance. However, they haven't been back to the tournament since, and that year brought their only tournament wins since 1990.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

Northern Iowa has perfected the art of slowing the game down to the point of frustration for the opposition.

In the Panthers' 12 games that didn't go into overtime, the Panthers are playing at an average pace of 57.8 possessions per game, scoring 63.2 points per game and allowing 50.9 PPG.

UNI is the anti-BYU.

But slow and steady has been winning the race. They don't score a ton, but they do score efficiently and get to the free-throw line with regularity. According to KenPom.com (subscription required), Deon Mitchell is the only Panther with an O-rating below 104.0.

For more than a decade, this has been a very methodical team that defends without fouling, dominates the defensive glass and limits fast-break opportunities by rarely selling out to get offensive rebounds. The biggest difference from previous seasons is that opponents have been unable to consistently hit three-pointers against them.

Their key to tournament success, then, is to control the tempo and defend the perimeter. Put this team in a 60-possession game against a team that doesn't shoot the lights out and anything can happen. You've been warned, No. 1 seeds likely to face Northern Iowa in the round of 32.

Old Dominion Monarchs

USA TODAY Sports

Record: 12-1 (1-0 in C-USA)

Best Wins: vs. VCU (73-67); vs. LSU (70-61); vs. Georgia State (58-54)

Star Player: Trey Freeman (16.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.5 APG)

Why a Cinderella?

The Old Dominion Monarchs have been to 11 tournaments in the past four decades, but they have a grand total of three wins and have never reached the Sweet 16. For the first time in school history, they appeared in the AP Top 25 this past Monday.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

Now that Colorado State has suffered a loss and slipped out of the Top 25, Old Dominion is the new "How exactly are they doing this?" team.

The Monarchs play at a very slow pace and don't shoot very well, but they have dominated the glass on both ends of the court while consistently forcing opponents to take contested shots.

In the overtime win over Georgia State, Old Dominion had a plus-18 rebounding margin and forced R.J. Hunter to run all over the court just to get two inches of space for a shot.

That type of effort always travels well, but can they score enough to make it count? Old Dominion needed an extra five minutes just to score 58 points in that game. The Monarchs have typically been a little more efficient than that, but they rank 105th in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com (subscription required).

At some point in the next two months, someone other than Trey Freeman needs to step up as a consistent offensive weapon. If Old Dominion finds that second fiddle, this team might finally make a trip to the Sweet 16.

Seton Hall Pirates

USA TODAY Sports

Record: 12-3 (2-1 in Big East)

Best Wins: vs. Villanova (66-61); vs. St. John's (78-67); vs. George Washington (58-54)

Star Player: Sterling Gibbs (16.0 PPG, 3.9 APG)

Why a Cinderella?

Seton Hall has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2006 and has won just one tournament game since 2000. The Pirates haven't won 10 conference games in a single season in the past decade.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

Who knew Seton Hall would suddenly get better after temporarily losing Isaiah Whitehead to a stress fracture?

Before the injury, the preseason Big East Freshman of the Year had a usage rating of 30 percent, according to Sports-Reference.com. It was by far the highest percentage on the team. Heck, even Jahlil Okafor is only being used on 28.8 percent of possessions for Duke.

Without Whitehead in the lineup, guys such as Khadeen Carrington, Sterling Gibbs and Brandon Mobley have stepped up in a huge way to lead the team to a pair of big upsets over conference opponents.

Here's the big question, though: How long was Whitehead dealing with that injury before finally getting it diagnosed? What if we have yet to actually see him at full health and he's going to come back better than ever in a few weeks to teammates with more confidence than they had through the first month of the season?

Regardless of what version of Whitehead eventually returns to the court, Gibbs will be the key to Seton Hall's success in the tournament.

Earlier this season, Seton Hall committed 22 turnovers and allowed Illinois State to hit 10 of 18 three-pointers. In roughly 49 games out of 50, that's a recipe for a blowout loss, but the Pirates were able to win the game, thanks to 40 points on just 14 field-goal attempts from Gibbs.

Gibbs had just three points in the 18-point loss to Georgia, but he has at least 18 points in each game since Whitehead went to the sideline—all wins. If he and Whitehead both get hot in March, with Mobley and Angel Delgado doing work in the paint, there's no reason this team can't at least survive until the second weekend.

South Carolina Gamecocks

Kathy Kmonicek/Associated Press

Record: 9-4 (0-1 in SEC)

Best Wins: vs. Iowa State (64-60); vs. Oklahoma State (75-49)

Star Player: Sindarius Thornwell (11.0 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.7 SPG)

Why a Cinderella?

Major conference or not, South Carolina hasn't won a tournament game since 1973 and has only competed in four of the past 40 NCAA tournaments. The Gamecocks have finished below .500 in five consecutive seasons, failing to win so much as seven conference games in any of those years.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

You would be hard-pressed to find a team that has played better defense since the beginning of December than South Carolina.

Over the six games before Wednesday night's loss to Florida, the Gamecocks held their opponents to a total of 319 points on 423 possessions. That equates to a stupefying ratio of 0.75 points per possession. All six opponents had at least 13 fewer points than possessions, including Iowa State and Oklahoma State—both had their worst offensive output of the season against South Carolina.

It took a couple of years, but Frank Martin finally has the type of defensive wizardry with South Carolina that he had with Kansas State. The Gamecocks are averaging 7.9 steals and 5.6 blocks per game and limiting opponents to a shooting percentage of 34.4.

This team is beyond pesky. South Carolina is overbearing on defense and has proven on several occasions that it can shut down high-octane offenses. Whether the Gamecocks can score enough to make it matter is the $64,000 question. This is a poor three-point shooting team that commits more than its fair share of turnovers.

Even in the win over Iowa State, the Gamecocks shot 20.0 percent from downtown and committed 20 turnovers. That worked this time, but it's not a recipe for prolonged success. If one or the other improves throughout the season, watch out for South Carolina in March.

TCU Horned Frogs

Mike Stone/Associated Press

Record: 13-2 (0-2 in Big 12)

Best Wins: at Ole Miss (66-54)

Star Player: Kyan Anderson (13.4 PPG, 4.1 APG, 1.5 SPG)

Why a Cinderella?

TCU has one tournament appearance in the past 27 years and went 2-34 in its first two seasons in the Big 12. It's early January, and the Horned Frogs have already won more games than they did in three of the previous four seasons.

Forget about what they do in the tournament. If TCU even makes it to the Dance, it'll already be a Cinderella story.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

Let's get physical. Physical.

TCU played a lot of awful teams in the first seven weeks of the season, but one thing we can take away from those games is that the Horned Frogs will both draw and commit a ton of fouls. Through 14 games, there have been an average of 43.0 fouls called and 50.7 free throws attempted in TCU games.

For sake of comparison, Texas games have had an average of 35.1 fouls and 39.3 free-throw attempts, and those in-state "rivals" play at an almost identical tempo.

It's an interesting and slightly ingenious strategy by Trent Johnson. The gap in talent between TCU's starting five and the starting five of a team such as Kansas or Oklahoma is pretty wide, but the gap in talent of their bench players is significantly narrower.

In TCU's first Big 12 game against West Virginia, a total of 61 fouls led to 66 free throws and a lot of minutes for bench players on both teams. The Horned Frogs didn't win the game, but it was closer than the 11-point margin would suggest. TCU was within two points in the final eight minutes.

VCU has more or less trademarked the term "Havoc," but TCU's blueprint to success could be considered chaos. Where other coaches teach to defend without fouling, TCU's game plan has been to sell out for blocked shots and offensive rebounds and to do whatever it takes to prevent open shots for the opposition.

It probably won't do the Horned Frogs much good against a deep team like Texas that shoots well from the free-throw line, but any eight-man rotation that converts on less than 70 percent of free-throw attempts could be in trouble. Upcoming games against Baylor and Texas Tech could prove that much.

Temple Owls

USA TODAY Sports

Record: 12-4 (3-0 in American)

Best Wins: vs. Kansas (77-52); at Connecticut (57-53); vs. Louisiana Tech (82-75)

Star Player: Will Cummings (14.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.7 SPG)

Why a Cinderella?

A tournament regular during its years with the Atlantic 10, Temple is recovering from a 22-loss inaugural season in the AAC.

The Owls haven't done much with their recent "dances," either. They have a combined record of 2-6 in the past 13 NCAA tournaments, with those two wins coming in the form of a four-point win over a No. 8 seed in 2013 and a two-point win over a No. 10 seed in 2011. They haven't been to the Sweet 16 since 2001.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

If you formed your opinion of Temple during the first five weeks of the season, it's time for a reevaluation.

Since getting Jesse Morgan and Devin Coleman eligible before the December 18 game against Delaware, the Owls have been a completely different team.

Morgan was a no-show against UCF on Sunday, but he has scored at least 14 points in each of his other five games with the Owls. Coleman hasn't played nearly as much as Morgan, but he is averaging 14.1 points and 11.3 rebounds per 40 minutes.

Moreover, Texas transfer Jaylen Bond has been sensational as of late. Over his last five games, he has averaged 11.6 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.

Temple is red-hot, and its best players haven't even been at their best. Will Cummings is shooting 34.2 percent from the field after shooting 44.8 percent a season ago. Quenton DeCosey hasn't been much better at 36.9 percent.

When this team is firing on all cylinders, like it was in the blowout win over Kansas, it has Final Four potential.

Utah Utes

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

Record: 13-2 (3-0 in Pac-12)

Best Wins: vs. Wichita State (69-68); at UNLV (59-46); vs. UCLA (71-39); at BYU (65-61)

Star Player: Delon Wright (14.9 PPG, 5.7 APG, 4.7 RPG, 2.4 SPG)

Why a Cinderella?

It might seem strange to have an AP Top 10 team listed as a Cinderella, but Utah hasn't been to the NCAA tournament since 2009 and hasn't won a tournament game since 2005. Every other top-10 team has been to at least two of the past three tournaments and won at least one game during that span.

What's more, the Utes entered this season with a 17-37 conference record since joining the Pac-12. We may have been anticipating a strong season from them, but that wouldn't make a deep run any less of a fairy tale.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

Defense, defense and more defense. Like so many of this year's elite teams, the Utes have consistently won the battle on the defensive end of the court.

They held BYU to 61 points at BYU—the Cougars have scored at least 76 points in every other game. Utah limited UNLV to 46 points just three days before the Rebels pulled off their shocking upset of Arizona. Most recently, the Utes allowed UCLA to score just 39 points on Sunday.

Delon Wright is very much in the running for National Player of the Year. Jakob Poeltl has been an outstanding rebounder and shot-blocker. And now that Jordan Loveridge is healthy and back in the fold, Utah is playing its best basketball of the season.

If the Utes are able to defend this well in the tournament, though, they could actually win the whole thing.

Wyoming Cowboys

USA TODAY Sports

Record: 14-2 (3-0 in Mountain West)

Best Wins: at Colorado State (60-54); vs. Colorado (56-33); vs. UNLV (76-71)

Star Player: Larry Nance Jr. (15.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.3 SPG, 1.0 BPG)

Why a Cinderella?

Wyoming has been to just one NCAA tournament since 1988, but the Cowboys did upset everyone's favorite Cinderella during that trip when they beat Gonzaga in the first round of the 2002 tourney.

How to Make the Slipper Fit?

If you love fast-paced action, putback dunks and tons of three-pointers, you are going to absolutely hate watching Wyoming play basketball.

The Cowboys used to be an up-tempo team but not since Larry Shyatt took over before the 2011-12 season. Wyoming has consistently played some of the slowest basketball in the country over the past four years while also ranking near the bottom in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage.

This team plans on taking one shot per possession and taking as long as it needs to find that optimal shot—usually from inside the arc, where they are shooting 59.9 percent for the year. On the other end of the court, Wyoming defends moderately well without fouling and typically dominates the defensive glass.

The Cowboys don't play the best basketball in the nation, but they play the most frustrating version of it for any opponent that likes to run the floor. Just about every game that they play is a slow-motion race to 50, and it's usually enough to keep opponents from getting into a good rhythm.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter at @kerrancejames.