First, Murray State picked up the last auto bid up for grabs yesterday, pulling away at the end of a tight defensive battle against Morehead State in OVC championship game. This team is a genuine Cinderella threat. They've won 30 games, they play really good defense, and they sport a fairly balanced offense. With an RPI of 62, I'd guess they'll end up with at least a 13 seed, and depending on the matchup, they could be this year's Cleveland State.
Second, Winthrop reasserted its recent dominance over the Big South by going on the road and defeating the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. (What is a Chanticleer, you ask? CCU thought you would.) After a one year hiatus, Winthrop returns to the Tournament for the 5th time in 6 years. An 11th-seeded squad pulled a first round "upset" three years ago against Notre Dame (in quotes, because in truth, it was an entirely unsurprising result). It'll be a tougher task this time around. With an RPI of 178, the Eagles are going to have trouble getting much farther than the 15 seed line.
Incidentally, Coastal Carolina is coached by ex-Auburn and ex-Clemson coach Cliff Ellis. Though he was denied a trip to the Dance this year, Ellis has a storied connection to March Madness. He was the coach of the Clemson team that was on the wrong end of one of the more dramatic buzzer beaters in Tournament history:
That's poor Cliff looking glumly down court at about 2:12. But just a few seconds later, you get an even better reaction shot of Elden Campbell, certainly one of the most iconic "what the hell just happened?" reactions to a buzzer beater in Tournament history.
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