NCAA Men's Tournament 2022: Biggest Potential Cinderellas Teams in Field of 68

Now that the 2022 men's NCAA tournament bracket has been revealed, it's time to start trying to identify this year's Cinderella teams that could be the difference between winning and losing your pool.

Ahead we've highlighted one double-digit seed from each of the four regions—along with a fifth bonus team—that have the best chance to put together a Cinderella run based on their regular-season performance, current momentum, and the path ahead of them through the tournament field.

Our list includes one major conference team, another team we've seen plenty of during March Madness in recent years, and three others with the upside to shake things up in their part of the bracket during the first weekend and potentially beyond.

Which team will don the glass slipper this year?

Let's get to it.

Seed: No. 10 in South Region

Three years after their unexpected run to the Final Four as a No. 11 seed during the 2018 NCAA tournament, the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers pulled off one of the biggest upsets in last year's tournament, upending No. 1 seed Illinois in the second round.

Can they do it again?

The Ramblers fielded the No. 2 defense in the nation in KenPom's adjusted efficiency rankings a year ago, but they have not been quite as dominant this year. They still check in No. 22 in that metric and play with a similarly slow, grind-it-out tempo that can lull opponents to sleep.

They held their three Missouri Valley conference tournament opponents to 50, 43 and 58 points en route to earning the automatic bid and have 15 total games this year where they have limited the opposition to fewer than 60 points.

Their first-round opponent Ohio State and potential second-round opponent Villanova both play a similar slow-paced, half-court style, so the Ramblers won't be run out of the gym. While many will be looking at No. 6 seed Colorado State as an under-the-radar contender in the South Region, don't sleep on another eventful March from Loyola-Chicago.

Seed: No. 12 in West Region

The New Mexico State Aggies have been the class of the Western Athletic Conference for more than a decade, earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament field eight times in the last 10 years, and they took No. 5 seed Auburn to the brink in 2019 when they lost 78-77.

This year's squad features the WAC Player of the Year in 6'6" forward Teddy Allen, who averaged 19.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game after transferring from Nebraska. He had a 41-point game against Abilene Christian earlier this year, along with three other 30-point performances on his resume.

They don't shoot the three very well, but they rank a respectable 87th in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency to go along with 73rd in defensive efficiency.

The Aggies slowed down a good Davidson offense in a 75-64 victory back in November, and they'll need a similar showing on that end of the floor to pull off the first-round upset against UConn.

Could we see No. 12 New Mexico State vs. No. 13 Vermont matchup in the West Region?

Seed: No. 13 in Midwest Region

There has not been a more efficient three-point shooting team in the country this year than the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, and that's going to be their ticket to a Cinderella story.

Here's a look at the best three-point shooting teams in the 2022 tournament:

• South Dakota State: 44.9 percent
• Colgate: 40.3 percent
• Purdue: 39.5 percent
• Virginia Tech: 39.3 percent
• Jacksonville State: 38.8 percent

Sophomore guard Baylor Scheierman won Summit League Player of the Year this season, averaging 16.2 points per game and hitting 80 three-pointers at a 47.3 percent clip. Senior forward Douglas Wilson complements the sharpshooter's outside game with an inside presence, averaging 16.5 points on 57.4 percent shooting from the floor.

With 21 straight wins, including an 18-0 run through conference play, they enter March Madness with as much momentum as anyone. A red-hot shooting game might just be enough for them to sneak past a No. 4-seeded Providence team that peaked early.

Seed: No. 13 in West Region

The Vermont Catamounts absolutely steamrolled the competition in the American East conference tournament.

After a 17-1 showing in conference play earned them the No. 1 seed, they outscored their three opponents by a combined 110 points to secure the automatic bid, wrapping things up with an 82-43 victory over UMBC on Saturday.

They are 22-1 overall in their last 23 games, and their last loss before that run was a 10-point game against No. 4 seed Providence that proved they can hang around with a high-level opponent.

Ryan Davis (17.2 PPG) and Ben Shungu (16.2 PPG) are a potent one-two punch on the offensive end, and the team averages 15.2 assists per game, good for 42nd in the nation.

This will not be a fun first-round matchup for No. 4 seed Arkansas, especially if the Catamounts can pick up where they left off last week when they were simply on another level relative to their competition.

Seed: No. 11 in East Region

Of all the major conference teams with a double-digit seed, Virginia Tech has the most upside.

The Hokies went 11-9 in conference play this year and entered the ACC tournament with a precarious-at-best NCAA tournament outlook following a loss to Clemson in their regular-season finale. However, they won four games in four days to grab an automatic bid.

That unexpected run included double-digit wins over North Carolina (72-59) in the semifinals and Duke (82-67) in the title game, with junior Hunter Cattoor exploding for 31 points with seven three-pointers against the Blue Devils.

He's far from the only outside threat on a team that shoots 39.3 percent from beyond the arc and averages nine made threes per game, and similar to Syracuse in last year's tournament, this team seems to be hitting its stride at the perfect time.

They face No. 6 seed Texas in the first round and would advance to face the winner of No. 3 Purdue and No. 14 Yale in the second round, and after beating Duke, it is not a stretch to say they're capable of knocking off any of those teams.

All stats courtesy of Sports Reference.