2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket Breakdown: Sleepers that may keep sleeping

How do you define a sleeper?

A sleeper, at least when talking about college hoops, is a team that is capable of making it further than they are expected to based on their seed. But there's a catch: to be a "sleeper", you have to like them to win at least two games, and to make it least one game (preferably two) beyond where they are expected if chalk holds. Five seeds can't be Sweet 16 sleepers. Two seeds can't be Final Four sleepers. If you only think they can win one game, they aren't a sleeper; they are an upset pick.

Sleepers come in all shapes and sizes. Sleepers can come from the low- and mid-major conferences. Sleepers can come from the power conferences. Sleepers can have all-americans and lottery picks. Sleepers can lack a single all-conference player. Sleepers can be picked based on talent, style of play, and/or matchups. Most importantly, correctly predicting the "sleepers" is how you win your pool. And isn't that why all of you are reading this?

Today, we will be schooling you on the sleepers. Who should you trust? Who shouldn't you trust?

Here are the "sleepers" who may keep sleeping:


Cornell Big Red: #12 seed, East Region

Don't get me wrong, I love this Cornell team. Ryan Wittman is one of the best shooters I've seen this year, Louis Dale is a former Ivy player of the year, and Jeff Foote is a capable big man and a legitimate seven footer. Cornell can play, there's no question about it. But the Big Red got a tough first round draw. Temple won the A-10 regular season and tournament titles. They beat Villanova, Siena, Richmond, and Xavier. The Owls are a very good basketball team. They really defend well and they can execute offensively. Cornell is a good matchup for them because the Big Red doesn't have any overpowering size. Temple will have as good of a chance as anyone as keeping Wittman from getting hot. The reason people like Jay Bilas love Cornell is because of a close loss to Kansas. And I know Temple got smacked by Kansas at home, but the Jayhawks would have beaten the T'Wolves that afternoon.


Washington Huskies: #11 seed, East Region

I understand that Washington has talent. I understand that this is a team that was supposed to be one of the best in the country. And I also remember that I said U-Dub could win a game or two. But something happened last night that made me think a bit harder about the Huskies. Specifically, Arizona State lost. At home. To Jacksonville. Further proof of just how bad this conference is. Washington lost seven games in conference play and really, really struggled away from. That's not a great precursor to a successful tournament.


St. Mary's Gaels: #10 seed, East Region

Like Cornell, I like this SMC team. They shoot the ball really well and have one of the most underrated big men in the country in Omar Samhan. That said, SMC got stuck with Richmond in the first round. The Spiders caught a bad break when they were seeded seventh. Rest assured this Richmond team can play. They like to slow things down and spread the floor, allowing Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez to create. There aren't ten better guard combos in the country than those two. While St. Mary's has a solid back court, Matthew Dellavedova and Mickey McConnell aren't exactly the best defenders. I know what you're thinking: "but who is going to stop Samhan?" Answer: Dan Geriot. Geriot has plenty of size, and before a knee injury cost him last season he was an all conference big man averaging 14 ppg.