Cinderella. Underdog. The little guy. Whatever you want to call them, teams outside the power-conference structure provide college basketball with much of its March magic. No other sport routinely produces David-versus-Goliath tall tales like the Saint Peter’s run to the 2022 Elite Eight or Florida Atlantic’s Final Four berth last season.
Like any good magic trick, the prestige often comes as a genuine surprise. No one was talking about FAU this time a year ago; the Owls were picked to finish fifth in Conference USA, yet came within a buzzer-beater of playing UConn in the national title...
