This NCAA Tournament's NC State? Don't let these underachieving high-major teams get hot

The true mystique of March Madness lies in the Cinderella stories, the idea that any team, no matter how small its budget or how rocky its regular season season, has a chance to go on a magical run.

Ordinarily, no one would picture an ACC program less than a decade removed from a national title as a plucky long shot.

But Jim Valvanos 1983 NC State squad became one of college basketballs most famous underdogs, winning the national championship by knocking off a mighty Houston squad on one of the sports most iconic plays .

Advertisement Forty-one years later, the Wolfpack again captured the hearts and minds of the college basketball world.

In 2024, NC State rattled off five straight victories in the ACC tournament to steal a bid to the Big Dance, even delivering an iconic buzzer beater via guard Michael OConnells banked 3 to force overtime against Virginia in the semifinal.

Kevin Keatts team knocked off North Carolina for the ACC crown, then ripped off four more stunning wins to reach the Final Four.

For the most part, NC States rampage through March came out of nowhere.

The roster had some talent larger-than-life center D.J.

Burns, most notably, plus transfers from schools like Arizona State, Butler, Virginia and Missouri but outside of a win at Clemson and a feisty performance against Tennessee, the Wolfpack had not built any kind of postseason resume.

So yes, that torrid run was a stunner.

Could it be repeated this year? Are there any teams with the juice to match NC States feat, navigating a power conference tournament and then barnstorming through the rest of March? Heres a look at three teams with the potential to make it happen.

No one in the group below will make the NCAA Tournament without earning an automatic bid, making their conference tournaments this week do-or-die.

Theyve each shown flashes of the upside necessary to rattle off multiple wins, and they have the talent to play with the big boys.

Consistency has escaped them, but perhaps they, like 2023-24 NC State, can put it all together when it matters most.

Villanova Eric Dixon is not D.J.

Burns, but he is a big lefty with loads of skill, and he is the kind of explosive scorer who could carry Villanova through a good-but-not-great Big East field at Madison Square Garden.

In fact, hes leading Division I in points per game despite Villanova ranking 354th out of 364 teams in adjusted tempo on KenPom.com.

Advertisement The coaching parallels are obvious, as well.

Keatts was on thin ice in Raleigh (so thin, in fact, that he was fired on Sunday after following up his incredible Final Four run with a 12-19 season that left the Wolfpack out of the ACC tournament), and Villanovas Kyle Neptune can certainly relate there.

He has missed the tournament with multiple talented teams, and this one is destined for the same disappointment unless it can capture some major March momentum.

The Wildcats have exhibited the necessary upside, beating UConn, St.

Johns and Marquette during the Big East regular season.

The only teams to sweep them were Georgetown (???) and Creighton (a potential semifinal opponent).

Another point in favor of a possible run: The Wildcats can go supernova from beyond the arc.

They rank No.

2 nationally in 3-point percentage.

Unlike NC State, Villanova will only have to win four games in four days to go dancing, and the Wildcats will be heavily favored in their opener against Seton Hall.

With Dixon at the forefront, anything could happen.

GO DEEPER Bubble watch: Who's sweating as championship week begins? Rutgers Speaking of star lefties who can win games on their own, how about Dylan Harper? A surefire lottery pick in this summers NBA Draft, the Scarlet Knights freshman has been brilliant when not hampered by illness (in early January) or an ankle injury (in late January).

He put up 91 combined points against Texas A&M, Alabama and Notre Dame in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas in November.

Hes not alone, of course.

Classmate Ace Bailey has pro potential of his own as a lanky shot maker, and his scoring eruptions 39 against Indiana, 37 against Northwestern are utterly unstoppable when they happen.

Rutgers supporting cast has been a problem all season.

Coach Steve Pikiell has used 12 different starting lineups while trying to properly piece together the puzzle around his young stars.

Advertisement The Scarlet Knights defense is the most likely downfall of theyre underdog tale.

Their youth (four freshmen in the rotation) and lack of rebounding and rim protection often lead to their opponents running layup lines.

The path through the Big Ten tournament is a challenging one: Purdue, the conferences most efficient offense, awaits in the second round.

Consistency has been an issue all season Rutgers has not won three consecutive games since the very beginning of the season.

Five straight will be a tall order, but Harper and Bailey could just have the answers.

Kansas State This is another sub-.500 team with obvious upside.

When fully healthy, the Wildcats have put up some incredible performances.

They dismantled Iowa State in Ames and followed that up a week later by beating Kansas and Arizona back-to-back.

They won at Cincinnati near the end of the season after key forward Coleman Hawkins returned from injury.

We know Kansas State can beat the Big 12s best (besides maybe top seed Houston, who is on the other side of the bracket).

We know Jerome Tangs team can rattle off multiple big wins in a row, including away from the Little Apple.

So why cant it happen at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, where K-State has already played this season (losing in overtime to tourney-bound Drake)? For that to happen, Hawkins needs to look like himself.

He has struggled in his two games since returning from injury.

Point guard Dug McDaniel also needs to find some modicum of efficiency; he has bricked his way through the Big 12 slate.

And Brendan Hausen and Max Jones, Kansas States primary perimeter weapons, need to get hot.

The path is there: After dispatching Arizona State on Tuesday, K-State faces Baylor, which is shorthanded due to injury.

Texas Tech awaits in the quarterfinals, and the Wildcats nearly beat the Red Raiders in January before they even started playing well.

Tang has led a team on a run in March once before; this one just needs to start a little earlier.

(Photo of Dylan Harper: Justin Casterline / Getty Images).

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