NCAA Upset Predictions 2019: Cinderella Picks for March Madness Bracket
There are plenty of Cinderella candidates going into the 2019 NCAA men's basketball tournament, but only a select handful of programs will get to wear the glass slipper.
A year ago, Loyola-Chicago captured our hearts with its run to the Final Four, while UMBC became the first No. 16 seed to win a March Madness game.
After glancing over the bracket, there are a few double-digit seeds we think are more than capable of springing upsets and becoming national media darlings for at least 48 hours.
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In the case of some teams, there's a path to not only win a first-round game but earn a trip to the Sweet 16 if everything goes right.
2019 NCAA Tournament Bracket
March Madness Cinderella Picks
Northeastern
No one expects a 10-loss team out of the Colonial Athletic Association to make much noise at the Big Dance, but 13th-seeded Northeastern has a chance to write its own Cinderella story in the Midwest Region.
Northeastern's 23-10 record is a bit deceiving, as it suffered the majority of those losses against tougher opponents in nonconference play.
Since January, the Huskies have only lost on three occasions, and they enter the field of 68 with 12 victories in their last 13 games.
A first-round matchup with No. 4 Kansas, who was inconsistent at times during Big 12 play, presents Northeastern with an ideal scenario to pull off an upset.
In addition to entering a favorable matchup, the Huskies have the upper hand in experience, as each of their top four scorers are upperclassmen.
Going against Kansas' freshman-laden lineup could benefit Vasa Pusica, Jordan Roland and Co., as they have the opportunity to put the young Jayhawks under pressure from the start.
But Northeastern's Cinderella story might not end after the first round, as a matchup with No. 5 Auburn could land the Huskies a second victory.
Although Bruce Pearl's Tigers come into the Big Dance with eight straight wins and an SEC tournament title, there's still plenty of tape on them from earlier in SEC play to exploit their weaknesses.
Auburn experienced a three-game losing streak in January and lost three contests during a five-game stretch before turning its season around.
Northeastern still has to play near-perfect basketball to have a chance of pulling off the upsets in Salt Lake City, but there are weaknesses in both of the top seeds in its pod that can be exploited.
Old Dominion
Conference USA tournament champion Old Dominion is also in a favorable situation as an underdog to earn the Cinderella tag.
The Monarchs, who are the No. 14 seed in the South Region, face a Purdue team that enters the tournament with an immense amount of pressure on it to succeed.
Purdue dropped back-to-back first-round results in 2015 and 2016 and hasn't made it past the Sweet 16 since Matt Painter took charge of the program.
With pressure once again mounting on the Boilermakers, who lost two of their last three Big Ten games, Old Dominion is in a perfect position to pounce.
In B.J. Stith and Ahmad Caver, the Monarchs have a pair of guards capable of frustrating any defender because of their scoring output.
Stith averages 16.9 points per game, while Caver is not far behind him at 16.5 points per game.
If that wasn't enough for Purdue to deal with, the Monarchs have a third scorer in Xavier Green, who led the team in points in the Conference USA tournament final against Western Kentucky.
If Old Dominion makes a few shots early on, it will force Purdue to press while attempting to play catch up, which could be the worst possible thing for a program already under the microscope to feel.
Murray State
Murray State is going to be one of the top Cinderella picks because it possesses a potential top-five NBA draft pick in Ja Morant.
Morant comes into the Big Dance averaging 24.6 points, 10 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament champion.
The sophomore guard is expected to rise to the occasion immediately in the first round, as he faces a showdown with Marquette's Markus Howard in Hartford, Connecticut.
While Morant receives most of the spotlight, the Racers aren't just a one-trick pony, as they have three other players who average over 10 points per game.
With opponents focusing in on Morant, one of Shaq Buchanan, Tevin Brown or Darnell Cowart is capable of stepping up and forcing defenders to commit more time to them.
As for the matchup itself, Murray State sits in a favorable position against a fifth-seeded Marquette team that has one victory in its last six games.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90
