Mid-majors to remember come March

Buffalo's upset of Arizona put the Bulls on the radar last March, and their wins over West Virginia and Syracuse have them as a top 20 team this year. The Bulls are legit. CJ Massinburg is their scorer, while he, Jeremy Harris and Nick Perkins crash the boards. (Buffalo is one of the best rebounding teams in the nation.) Dontay Caruthers is an elite defender who fills up the stat sheet in other ways. The Bulls won't surprise anyone this spring, but they won't have to go deep in the tournament. 

After going 3-3 to start the season, the Pride have reeled off 14 straight wins. The name to know is Justin Wright-Foreman, who is averaging 26.2 points per game...which is good enough to be third nationally. The senior guard is shooting 40 percent from three and could be a guy you hear about in the NBA. (Scouts love his ability to play off screens and he has improved his abilities as a playmaker.) A guy like Wright-Foreman can carry a mid-major to a big upset come tournament time. 

Lehigh's games are usually fun to watch. There's a lot of offense (they average 80 points per game while giving up nearly 78 points a contest), and the Mountain Hawks are the nation's best three-point shooting team (a whopping 47 percent). Four players average double figures, led by forward Pat Andree (14.9 ppg). They will have a fight with Bucknell to win the Patriot League, but if they can find their way into the tournament they will cause some fits.

Yeah, they are the Bisons (a plural of a plural) but they are a tough team to beat. They've already beaten a ranked TCU and SMU and lost to Louisville by just four points. They are in the top 20 nationally in scoring and have a variety of ways to beat you. They are led by the inside-outside duo of Garrison Mathews (17 ppg) and Rob Marberry (16 ppg). The senior Mathews has been a 20-point scorer, while Marberry does most of his damage in the paint. The Bisons have several role guys capable of putting the ball in the basket and can certainly hang with the big boys come March.

Sure, the darlings of the 2018 NCAA Tournament are a known entity, but aside from Butler in 2011 it is rare for this kind of Cinderella to repeat its March Madness performance. Much of that team is back and is still the class of the Missouri Valley Conference. The name won't get them in, however, as the Ramblers still have to win a usually tough MVC Tournament in St. Louis to earn a bid. With Marques Townes, Clayton Custer and Cameron Krutwig with more big-game experience than anyone else in the league, the Ramblers could be back and scaring teams come March. 

The NCAA really, really, really hopes the Racers win the Ohio Valley Conference's automatic bid and get into the big dance. Ja Morant has been one of the best players in the nation and will likely be an NBA lottery pick. He leads the country in assists (by a wide margin) and can score in a variety of ways. He's not the only good player on this team, though, as Shaq Buchanan and Tevin Brown provide scoring and more rebounding for Murray State. 

The Aggies continue to be one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, and their defense can frustrate you. They do a great job at controlling pace as well as pounding the glass to limit second-chance opportunities. New Mexico State is also a deep team that doesn't rely on one guy to create the offense. Twelve players average at least 11 minutes per game, with their leading scorer (Terrell Brown) averaging just 11.7 points per game. They have made the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven seasons.

North Texas won the CBI tournament last year with one of the stingiest defenses in the nation and a balanced offense. That all returned this season and while the Mean Green are young, they are experienced. They have six players who average double figures, led by Ryan Woolridge (12.6 pts, 6.4 rbs, 4.9 ast). 

Two years ago, the Norse reached their first NCAA Tournament and hung with Kentucky before ultimately losing. Last year they won the Horizon League regular season but lost during the conference tournament. This season, they've shot out to a nice start to conference play. Senior forward Drew McDonald is averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Tyler Sharpe brings the perimeter scoring (14.3 ppg). 

The Highlanders have had an up-and-down season thus far. They beat Notre Dame and Texas, then lost five out of six games before going on a seven-game winning streak as they entered Big South play. Radford takes pride in its defense and what head coach Mike Jones calls "energy game boosters" — those hustle plays that may not make it on the stat sheet but are key to winning games. Carlik Jones leads the defending conference champions in scoring (15.4 pts) and assists (5.7) and is second in rebounding. 

Rider has shot out to a hot start in MEAC play and boasts having six guys who are averaging between eight and 12 points per game. Frederick Scott leads the way, averaging 12.3 points and nearly six rebounds per game while shooting 44 percent from three. Guard Stevie Jordan is great at getting to the basket and either scoring or drawing a defense in and finding the open guy. 

The Billikens currently are near the top of a good race in the Atlantic 10, as they have already beaten Seton Hall and Butler this year and went to the wire with a much-improved Pittsburgh. They are led by Michigan State transfer Javon Bess, who is averaging 15 points and seven boards a game. This isn't the biggest team nor is it the typical three-point efficient squad, but the Billikens are sound defensively and take care of the little things. 

The WCC has been dominated by Gonzaga and Saint Mary's, but the Dons feel it is their time to make some noise. Frankie Ferrari (great name) is an outstanding point guard who gets San Francisco into transition opportunities and can score as well. Wing Charles Minlend leads the team in scoring and is a solid rebounder. Their only losses were to Gonzaga, Buffalo and UC Santa Barbara, and they've beaten Stanford, Cal and Saint Mary's. 

The Jackrabbits have made the last three NCAA Tournaments on the back of two-time Summit League Player of the Year Mike Daum. They are the perfect bracket buster, as they are experienced, they shoot well from three and they have that stud player in Daum to hitch their wagon to when they need a steadying presence.  It isn't just a one-man band in Daum — David Jenkins averages nearly 20 points per game and is hitting 48 percent from behind the arc, while Skyler Flatten is averaging 15 ppg. This is a solid rebounding team and should give whomever they face a scare in the tournament. 

UCSB is a good defensive team, led by Alabama transfer Ar'Mond Davis, the Gauchos leading scorer and is second in rebounding. Freshman Amadou Sow is starting to get comfortable and is becoming more offensive minded. (He already leads the team in rebounding.) If the Gauchos can get Max Heidegger going after coming back from an injury (he averaged 19 ppg last season), then this team could be dangerous come March. 

Aside from Nevada (which should run away with the conference title), the Mountain West is up for grabs. Utah State has played well this year and is one of the league's biggest surprises. The Aggies have blown out Saint Mary's and had narrow losses to Arizona State and Houston. Guard Sam Merrill is the leading scorer (18.7 ppg) and leading assist man (4.3 apg), but it is new head coach Craig Smith who has the team battling for each possession and in each game.

Junior Anthony Lamb is a scorer.  He averages 20 points while grabbing seven rebounds and is hitting over 50 percent from the field. Lamb scored 24 points in a loss to Kansas early in the season and scored 42 in a win over St. Bonaventure. He is joined by senior guard Ernie Duncan and guard Stef Smith, who has broken out in his sophomore season. It will be Lamb who leads the Catamounts through a good America East this year.

The Wildcats can score, as they average over 83 points per game, and they once hung 113 points on BYU. Jerrick Harding leads Weber State with 21.3 points per game and is a pure scorer. (As a guard, he's only had 16 assists in 16 games.) In fact, the team's four leading scorers average a total of less than six assists per game. The Wildcats are an up-and-down team that will score a lot of points and give up a lot of points. The Big Sky should be quite a fun league to watch down the stretch.

The Terriers haven't shied away from playing some of the best teams in the country. They've lost to North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi State, but (other than the Kansas game) they have been competitive each time out. They are led by guard Fletcher Magee, who leads the team in scoring and will put it up from anywhere inside the arena, and Cameron Jackson, who is tough to handle inside. 

Yale is looking to win its first Ivy League title since 2016. Junior wing Miye Oni leads the Bulldogs in scoring (16.3 pts) and is second in assists and rebounding. Keep your eye out for Jordan Bruner who leads the Ivy League in both rebounding and assists. (Seriously, how often does  that happen?) The Bulldogs lead the conference in scoring, rebounding, assists and field-goal shooting.