Men's NCAA Tournament 2024: The Biggest Potential Cinderella Teams in the Field of 68

The 2024 men's NCAA tournament is officially underway with the First Four games tipping off Tuesday night, and the first full day of action is just one short day away, so let's identify a few Cinderella teams that could be the difference between winning and losing your pool.

Ahead we've highlighted five double-digit seeds—one from each of the four regions, along with a bonus team—that have the best chances to put together Cinderella runs based on their regular-season performance, momentum and the path ahead.

Which team will don the glass slipper this year?

Let's dive in.

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Record: 28-6 (16-4 in MVC)

Quad Breakdown: 4-1 vs. Q1, 3-3 vs. Q2, 9-2 vs. Q3, 11-0 vs. Q4

Opening Matchup: No. 7 Washington State

The Drake Bulldogs are in the NCAA tournament for the third time in the last four years, and they were a popular Cinderella pick a year ago as a No. 12 seed against the Miami Hurricanes in the first round, ultimately falling 63-56 to a team that went on to reach the Final Four.

Do-it-all junior Tucker DeVries leads the way, averaging 21.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He won Missouri Valley Player of the Year honors for a second straight season and is one of the best mid-major players in the country.

The Bulldogs won both matchups against a really good Indiana State team and also beat fellow No. 10 seed Nevada during nonconference play, so they have some quality wins.

They take on a Washington State team that suffered bad losses to Arizona State and Washington down the stretch, and while the Cougars' size could create some matchup problems inside, the Bulldogs are the superior perimeter team and could control the tempo of the game.

A victory would set up a potential Saturday matchup with in-state rival Iowa State. The two teams used to meet every season during nonconference play, but they have not faced off since Dec. 15, 2018.

Record: 31-3 (15-3 in Sun Belt)

Quad Breakdown: 1-1 vs. Q1, 0-1 vs. Q2, 7-1 vs. Q3, 22-0 vs. Q4

Opening Matchup: No. 5 Wisconsin

The James Madison Dukes made a major statement to tip off the 2023-24 season, beating then-No. 4 Michigan State in their opener en route to a 14-0 start and a consistent spot in the AP poll.

They lost twice to Appalachian State in Sun Belt play and suffered a Quad 3 hiccup against Southern Mississippi, but they enter the NCAA tournament riding a 13-game winning streak and capable of making some serious noise.

Detractors will point to the fact that this team played 23 games at the Quad 4 level and lost twice against the only other legitimately competitive team in their conference, but mediocre teams don't generally win 31 games.

The Dukes average 84.4 points per game, and they hung 82 on Michigan State in that upset victory, so they can put points on the board. Terrence Edwards leads the way with 17.4 points and 3.5 assists per game, and five different players on the roster made at least 40 threes, so they have plenty of weapons on the perimeter

They also have two juniors and five seniors in their nine-man rotation, so there is ample experience on the floor at all times.

Up first in their quest to be this year's Cinderella is a Wisconsin Badgers team that limped to a 3-8 record to close out the regular season before going on a run and reaching the title game in the Big Ten tournament. The Badgers are very beatable.

Record: 30-3 (17-1 in Southland)

Quad Breakdown: 1-0 vs. Q1, 2-2 vs. Q2, 4-0 vs. Q3, 19-1 vs. Q4

Opening Matchup: No. 5 Gonzaga

Only four teams in the nation enter the NCAA tournament with 30 victories. Two of them are No. 1 seeds in UConn and Houston, and we've already touched on James Madison out of the Sun Belt Conference.

The other is the McNeese State Cowboys.

In the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002 and just the third time in school history, the Cowboys went from 11-23 last season to 30-3 in their first year under former LSU coach Will Wade.

Leading scorer Shahada Wells is a TCU transfer who won Southland Player of the Year while tallying 17.8 points, 4.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game, and he leads four players who average in double figures of an offense that puts up 80.4 points per contest.

They shoot 38.8 percent from beyond the arc and force 16.5 turnovers per game, two key areas that can be a catalyst for March Madness success.

This year's Gonzaga squad is not the same national powerhouse it has been in recent seasons, going just 3-6 in Quad 1 games, so expect the Cowboys to give them a serious run for their money Thursday night.

A second-round matchup against a banged-up Kansas team or fellow Cinderella candidate Samford could also provide a path to the Sweet 16.

Record: 26-9 (10-8 in Mountain West)

Quad Breakdown: 5-6 vs. Q1, 3-1 vs. Q2, 7-1 vs. Q3, 10-1 vs. Q4

Opening Matchup: No. 6 Clemson

The Mountain West Conference did not end up getting the love many were expecting to see from the selection committee. While six teams made the NCAA tournament field, four were given double-digit seeds, and two slotted in First Four matchups.

All six of those squads are capable of proving the committee wrong and exceeding expectations, but it's the New Mexico Lobos who have the momentum to rattle off a Cinderella run.

The Lobos were squarely on the bubble after going 2-4 to close out the regular season, but they rattled off four wins in four days to win the conference tournament, including victories over No. 8 seed Boise State, No. 10 seed Colorado State and No. 5 seed San Diego State over the final three games.

In the NCAA tournament field for the first time since 2014, the Lobos have taken a significant step forward this year in their third season under Richard Pitino, who inherited a six-win team from Paul Weir.

New Mexico loves to run, checking in sixth in KenPom's adjusted tempo metric, and that is going to make them an uncomfortable matchup for a Clemson squad that ranks 260th in that same statistic.

The same is true of potential second-round matchup Baylor, so if the Lobos can ride their current wave of momentum and control the pace of the game, they could punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.

Record: 29-5 (15-3 in Southern)

Quad Breakdown: 0-2 vs. Q1, 2-0 vs. Q2, 10-3 vs. Q3, 15-0 vs. Q4

Opening Matchup: No. 4 Kansas

If nothing else, the Samford Bulldogs are going to be a lot of fun to watch.

They play at an uptempo pace, shoot and make a ton of threes, and hunt turnovers on defense with a full-court pressure approach that has become the signature style of head coach Bucky McMillan during three straight 20-win campaigns.

The Bulldogs take 25.1 threes per game and connect at a 39.3 percent clip, good for the seventh-best rate in the nation. They also force 16.6 turnovers per contest and average 10 steals.

Is all of that going to be enough to shake the Kansas Jayhawks?

Dajuan Harris has a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio and is widely regarded as one of the better facilitators in college basketball, but the Jayhawks don't have a ton of quality ball-handlers or depth in general to weather the constant pressure from the Bulldogs.

There is also the question of how healthy leading scorers Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. are after both were sidelined during the Big 12 tournament.

The Bulldogs are going to be a popular pick to upend one of college basketball's blue bloods.