We’ve plucked a pair of double-digit seeds that could fit into the glass slipper this March.
No. 13 Hofstra (Midwest)
Speedy Claxton’s Hofstra Pride tick a lot of boxes for a potential Cinderella. There is plenty of experience on this roster; they have a couple of stars in former St. John’s guard Cruz Davis and Long Island native Preston Edmead, and they play stingy defense.
According to Bart Torvik’s model, the Pride rank 10th in the country in effective field goal percentage on defense, and they are the fourth-best unit in Division I at defending two-pointers.
Hofstra’s offense can also get white hot thanks to some terrific shooting from beyond the arc. The Pride rank 29th in the country in 3-point percentage, and have three starters (Davis, Edmead, and German Plotnikov) who clip at better than 37 percent from downtown.
Hofstra guard Cruz Davis. AP
There’s another reason why Hofstra stands out as a potential sleeper: The Midwest Region is ripe for chaos. Michigan is a beast at the top of the region, but there are a handful of high seeds that have the potential to throw this quadrant into disarray.
