The Madness is upon us! As the calendar turns to March, it is time for me to update my earlier entry regarding potential March Madness Cinderella stories.  Each season, I chronicle the potential March Madness Cinderella Stories by writing two articles that detail teams across that could become a feel-good story come March.   The first article is written around the midpoint of the season (late January/early February) and the second is published  just as the conference tournaments begin.  Here is the second of those two annual editions.

While almost all mid-major college basketball teams have the chance to play Cinderella come Christmas Day (aka the first round of the NCAA tourney), it is particularly special when these teams have an inspiring sentimental storyline.  Often times this involves a squad making its first trip to the Big Dance (see Northern Colorado in 2011).  Other times there is a likable coach who warms the hearts of the nation (see Pete Carril in 1994, Andy Enfeld in 2012).  Inevitably, when the second week of March comes around, these stories will come to fruition.  In the meantime, it’s worth looking at the standings and checking out which mid-major conference leaders/contenders and other probable NCAA Tournament teams could inspire us during the first few weeks of March. 

It is worth noting that I have a pretty good track record of identifying potential March Madness Cinderella Stories. For instance, I chronicled Loyola-Chicago in my early edition of this article in 2018, almost two months before the world discovered Sister Jean and the Ramblers. In 2022, I wrote about the FAU Owls in this article, well before their Cinderella march to the Final Four. And then last year, I talked about Nebraska in both editions of my Cinderella articles before they went and made history by winning their first NCAA tourney game in school history. So without further ado, here is my early list of potential Cinderella teams in 2025. Only schools currently in first or second place of their respective conferences or squads currently in the hunt for an NCAA tourney at-large bid will be included in this column.  They are listed in alphabetical order by conference.

North Alabama (Atlantic Sun)– The Lions have not come close to making the Big Dance in their brief 7 year stint as a full-fledged Division 1 program. With that being said, they tied for the regular season championship this year in the A-Sun and enter the league’s conference tournament as the # 2 seed.

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St. John’s (Big East)– It is hard to classify any Rick Pitino coached team as a Cinderella story, but when you consider the fact that this once prominent program hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game in 25 years and they are likely to enter this year’s Dance as a # 4 seed, this is quite a story. Even more astonishing is the fact that the Johnnies just clinched their first outright Big East championship in 40 years this past weekend!

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High Point (Big South)– Neither the great Tubby Smith or his son G.G. were able to guide this university to their first-ever NCAA tournament. Both Smiths have since left town and second year coach Alan Huss, who has worked himself up from the high school ranks (starting at Culver Military Academy in 2007), has the Panthers on the brink of an NCAA tournament bid for the second consecutive season, as HPU enters the Big South tournament as the # 1 seed. Last year, the Panthers fell just short of a bid, but could this be the year that High Point finally goes dancing? 

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UC San Diego (Big West)– UCSD has only been eligible for the Big Dance for four seasons, but nevertheless, there has never been a Division 1 NCAA basketball tournament that has featured any team called the Tritons before (great mascot)! That could all change in 2025 as currently this team finds itself alone atop the Big West conference standings with a legitimate chance of earning at-large bid if they were to falter in their upcoming conference tourney.

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Towson (CAA)– Pat Skerry (pictured below) has had the Towson Tigers on the verge of an NCAA tourney bid for quite a while now, but they have just been unable to breakthrough. This may finally be the season this program ends its 34 year NCAA tourney drought (last bid was 1991), as the Tigers enter next weekend’s CAA tournament as the # 1 overall seed after clinching the outright regular season title in the league with an impressive 16-2 mark.

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Dartmouth (Ivy League)– Here’s a good trivia question for you. Of all the teams that have been to the NCAA tournament before, who has gone the longest without returning? The answer to that is the Big Green of Dartmouth who last danced back in 1959! In fact, they are currently tied with Harvard for the longest NCAA tourney drought ever at 66 years (Harvard’s drought was from 1946-2012)! And even though Yale will be heavily favored to win this year’s edition of Ivy Madness, the Big Green currently find themselves in second place in the league standings and in prime position to win conference title if the Bulldogs were to falter.

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Marist (MAAC)– The Metro Atlantic is full of potential Cinderella stories this year as the top three teams in the current league standings three teams are all trying to end lengthy tourney droughts and/or go dancing for the first time. The Red Foxes of Marist (2nd place) haven’t been to the tourney since 1987, whereas Quinnipiac (1st place) and Merrimack (3rd place) are both Big Dance virgins.

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Quinnipiac (MAAC)– see Marist comment above

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Merrimack (MAAC)– see Marist comment above

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Drake (Missouri Valley)– Unlike most of the teams on this list, the Bulldogs of Drake are not trying to end a lengthy tourney drought. In fact, this program went to the NCAA tournament as recently as last season. What makes this team a good Cinderella story, however, is the fact that last year’s coach Darian DeVries departed the program at season’s end and the entire roster left with him. He was then replaced by Ben McCollum (pictured below) who most recently coached at Division 2 powerhouse Northwest Missouri State. McCollum rebuilt this team by importing his best D-II players, and they have astonishingly dominated most all of Division 1 by posting a 25-3 overall record that includes wins over Vanderbilt, Kansas State, and Miami-FL en route to a league title and a legitimate chance at an NCAA at-large berth if necessary. Read Pat Forde’s full story on this team here.

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SIU Edwardsville (Ohio Valley)– The Cougars have never danced in the 14 years they have been eligible to do so as a full-fledged NCAA Division 1 institution. However, that could change in 2025, as SIUE enters this week’s Ohio Valley conference tournament as the # 2 seed with an automatic bye to the league semifinals.

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Nicholls State (Southland)- The Colonels haven’t danced since the late 90’s, but they currently find themselves tied for second place in their league standings. Nicholls is also the only team in this conference to have beaten league front runner McNeese State this season, so it will be a fascinating rematch if these teams were to meet again in the Southland title game in ten days.

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Omaha (Summit)– The Mavericks have never put on dancing shoes before, yet they won the regular season Summit League title this season and enter next week’s conference tournament as the # 1 overall seed.

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Arkansas State (Sun Belt)– The Red Wolves have not danced this century/millennium, with their last bid coming in 1999, but this year’s squad may be on the verge of ending that drought. For not only did Arkansas State tie for the Sun Belt regular season title this season, but they also beat a sure-fire NCAA tournament team in Memphis back in December by double-digits on the road!

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Utah Valley (WAC)– It is hard to believe that the Wolverines from Orem have not earned an NCAA tournament bid yet, given how much success this program had under both current Kentucky coach Mark Pope and then current California coach Mark Madsen. In fact, Utah Valley has finished first or second in the WAC regular season standings in five of their ten seasons in the league! This year, they are in prime position to finally earn a trip to the dance, as they stand alone atop the league standings with a near-perfect 13-1 record.