2010 NCAA Tournament Bracket Breakdown: Sleepers you haven't seen

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 you haven't seen play:


Old Dominion Monarchs: #11 seed, South Region

Old Dominion does some things very well. They are big, athletic, and tough. They defend. They can rebound with anyone in the country. And while they drew maybe the hottest team in the country in the first round, it is a good matchup for the Monarchs. Notre Dame's new style is to really slow the game down, something Old Dominion wants to do as well. Notre Dame does not rebound the ball well, struggles against some of the more physical teams, and could have issues getting stops, much like they did against West Virginia in the Big East semifinals. Of ODU can get by the Irish, they will likely face Baylor, another team they matchup well with. The Bears are just as good on the offensive glass as the Monarchs and may actually have more size. Baylor struggles to rebound in their zone defense, however, which Old Dominion should be able to take advantage of. If the Monarchs can force Tweety Carter and Lace Dunn into poor shooting nights, Old Dominion could very well reach the Sweet 16.


UTEP Miners: #12 seed, West Region

UTEP drew Butler in the first round of the tournament, a team that has been in and around the top ten for much of the season. Butler is a good team -- they went undefeated against their conference, beat Xavier and Ohio State, and have no bad losses. No matter how you slice it, that equals a good team. But where Butler struggles is when they face teams that are bigger and more athletic than them. UTEP, on paper, looks like a high-major team, at least sizewise. Arnett Moultrie is the Miner's center, and he stands 6'11". Derrick Caracter is 6'9", 270 lb. Claude Britten is 6'11". Jeremy Williams and Julyan Stone are 6'6" and 6'7" on the wing. Ronald Nored, at 6'3", is Butler's starting power forward.

I like UTEP in a possible matchup with Vanderbilt as well. Is it possible that Vandy is overrated as a four seed? The SEC is better than last year, but it is still not a great league. Vandy lost five games in conference. They lost six games to teams that missed the NCAA Tournament. This is not a good defensive team, and a downright bad rebounding team. Vandy's strength is that they run a complicated offensive system -- they are a difficult team to prepare for, especially when you only have one day between game -- but UTEP's strength is their defensive ability. Don't be surprised if the Miners make a run.


San Diego State Aztecs: #11 seed, Midwest Region

The Aztecs caught a break with their draw, as their first two games will be against Tennessee and (in all likelihood) Georgetown. Neither the Hoyas or the Vols have big front lines, and neither are all that good on the glass. SDSU, on the other hand, may have the best front line in this region. Kawhi Leonard, Billy White, and Malcolm Thomas are all athletic and aggressive and they go hard to the offensive back boards. SDSU does have some issues. They turn the ball over quite a bit, which could be a problem against Tennessee's pressure. They are not all that good at defending the three, and Georgetown can some guys that can shoot. But SDSU is playing as well as they have all year long. They have won five in a road, nine out of ten, and 13 of their last 16 games. The only three losses in that string, which includes two wins over UNLV and a win over New Mexico, are to BYU (twice) and New Mexico.


BYU Cougars: #7 seed, West Region

I think BYU can make the Final Four. There. I said it. Now lets talk about it. The Cougars are a high-powered offensive team that likes to get out and run the floor. Their attack is spear-headed by Jimmer Fredette, who is the only player in the country to hit 40 twice this season. The Cougars generally have three other shooters on the court with Fredette, which opens up the middle of the floor. I don't foresee BYU having much trouble with Florida, which sets up an interesting matchup with Kansas State. There are two things that the Wildcats do to win games -- they force turnovers and they attack the offensive glass. The two things that BYU is the best at? Protecting the basketball and finishing defensive possessions with a rebound. In fact, they have the second best defensive rebounding percentage in the country. Granted, BYU tends to be phenomenal against poor competition and only average against the best competition, but this, like I said, is a favorable matchup. If the Cougars happen to get through to the Sweet 16, they will essentially be playing a home game, as the West Regional is played in Salt Lake City. BYU fans are loud, they are passionate, and they make the Cougars a much better team.