What is a Cinderella team?

A Cinderella is a team nobody expected to win. It is a low seed that beats big teams and stays alive late into the tournament.

Why the fairy tale name?

The name comes from the Cinderella story.

A girl in rags shows up at the ball.

She steals the night.

A small school with a low seed does the same.

It walks in past the giants and starts winning.

Famous Cinderellas

Saint Peter's, 2022. A 15 seed from a tiny school.

They beat Kentucky, a 2 seed, in the first round.

Then they beat Purdue and reached the Elite Eight.

No 15 seed had ever gone that far.

Villanova, 1985. An 8 seed that won the whole thing.

They beat Georgetown in the final, 66 to 64.

No seed lower than 8 has ever won the title.

Loyola Chicago, 2018. An 11 seed in the Final Four.

Florida Gulf Coast, 2013. The first 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16.

Why Cinderellas wreck brackets

Most players pick the big teams to win.

One Cinderella run busts all those picks at once.

Almost every year, a team seeded 10 or worse reaches the Sweet 16.

So picking no upsets is a risk too.

The art is picking one or two, not ten.

See how often upsets really happen.