Sleeper, Cinderella, Upset

...three words that re-enter the vocabulary this time of year.

When March Madness rolls around, everyone filling out a bracket wants to know:
Which low-seeded team or relative unknown is going to bust through to the Sweet Sixteen? Or farther?

You recognize the major conference teams in contention for the title, like Duke, Michigan State, Kansas, and Kentucky. And, if you've been paying attention, you know that North Carolina is not going to repeat this year. The Tarheels aren't even going to make the tournament. You can probably count UConn out, too. But, big contenders aside, who else should you know about? I'm going to tell you about four teams that often don't make a splash in the tournament. However, they were all ranked in the top 25 this year, and they already have guaranteed spots in the Big Dance.

Let's start with the #24 UTEP (22-5). The Miners have not won a NCAA tournament game since 1992. This year, the team has only dropped one game in Conference USA play. UTEP has five players that average over 10 points per game. Derrick Caracter, the team's second leading scorer, is a junior transfer from Louisville who's discovered gold, so to speak, in El Paso. The Miners have won 12 straight.

The next team that might make some noise is the Big Red. Straight out of Ithaca, New York, Cornell is poised to make a run. Believe it or not, this is the school's third straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. This time around, though, the Big Red has four senior starters and some impressive performances under its belt. Cornell beat Alabama and St. John's, two big conference teams. The team also lost to #2 Kansas by a mere 5 points. I think they'll get out of the first round this year.

Based on their 2009 seasons, the next two teams shouldn't be complete surprises. Both the Kansas State Wildcats and the New Mexico Lobos finished 21-11 last year and lost in the second round of the NIT. Currently, they're ranked #5 and #8, respectively.

You might remember Kansas State from a couple years ago, when it had two NBA draft picks (Michael Beasley and Bill Walker). The Wildcats beat USC in the first round of the Big Dance (destroying my bracket) before losing to Wisconsin. In 2010, K-State is once again a two-headed monster. Guards Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente are both potent scorers (averaging 18.5 and 15.8 points a game), meaning that opposing teams will have to contain both players. On Wednesday, the Wildcats play one of their biggest games of the season - against Big 12 leader Kansas.

New Mexico has won their last 13 games, including wins over tourney-worthy teams BYU, UNLV, and San Diego State. The Lobos are led by head coach Steve Alford, who coached at Iowa for 8 years (including seven straight winning seasons) and won a national championship as a player at Indiana in 1987. How do you know he's an excellent coach? To begin with, he learned from the best - Mr. Bob Knight. Second, he's managed to propel his team to the top of the Mountain West Conference with only one senior on his roster.

THE BLOG IS BACK! (on a limited run for March Madness, pending talks with management)