By: Julio Olmo

It has been tremendous NCAA Tournament 2019 so far and the odds are very, very high that the Madness will only get more dramatic moving forward.

The Sweet 16 is set and as always Cinderellas crashed The Dance.

I have high standards, when it comes to using the word Cinderella next to any team.

To me is like using the word GOAT next to any sports athlete’s name.

Because of it, calling the athlete GOAT does not carry the same luster as before.

Being a longtime hardcore fan of March Madness, I been forced accept everyone throwing around the word Cinderella like Mardi Gras Beads, so I’ve adjusted to the (over!) usage of it.

So here it is…My Cinderella Description Chart:

Bracket Busting teams from smaller Division I Schools or Mid-Major conferences are not Cinderellas.

These teams are led by upper classmen who have play together for years and on many instances also have two or more players which were not highly recruited by Division I major basketball programs.

These guys are highly motivated and March Madness is their shot at paying back the major basketball programs which ignored them during recruiting.

Unless you’re a NCAA Basketball Grinder it is impossible to predict which Region these teams will be coming from when you initially make your bracket picks, but they will make their presence known in March Madness.

It’s just a matter of whether they are taking their talents to the Sweet 16 , Elite Eight or the Final Four.

By the time Major Division I programs and the networks truly identify this Cinderellas…they will be well on their way to claim their pound flesh, trust me!

The other Cinderella type is the one which, leaves it’s imprint (epically!) on March Madness, like the 1983 North Carolina State Wolfpack or my personal favorite the 1985 Villanova Wildcats.

Growing up in Philly we use to watch the Wildcats play at the old Philadelphia Palestra and thanks to one of my Brothers, we got a chance to break bread with some of those guys months before they went into their historical run.

Fun Fact:
The Villanova Wildcats were seeded 8th, when they won the 1985 NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats played flawlessly in the title game, shooting 78% from the floor to upset Patrick Ewing and defending champion Georgetown 66 – 64.

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