Here are four surprise teams to watch out for in the upcoming March Madness

Yes, the games of March Madness are about to begin, and a big part of the fun is trying to figure out who exactly will be those surprise teams—the teams that pull off unlikely upsets and make an improbable run to the Elite Eight, or maybe even the Final Four!

We were lucky enough to witness it up close and personal here in Chicago not too many years ago,  when our beloved Loyola Ramblers made an unbelievable surge all the way to the Final Four, capturing the entire nation with their Cinderella story. 

Having America's favorite centenarian and number one Loyola supporter, Sister Jean, on your side didn’t hurt either, as she became (at least for those three weeks) a shared national treasure.

We also saw it just last year, with unsung teams like Florida Atlantic and San Diego State shocking the bracketologists and advancing all the way to the Final Four.

So, the challenge is thus: Which teams will be this year’s big surprises?  Who will try the fit of "the Cinderella shoes"?

Glad you asked and most happy to oblige!   

Listed below are four teams that I think could pull off the big upsets and make an unexpected run to the final four.  I am going to throw a No. 5 seed, a No. 8 seed, a No. 9 seed and a 13th seed into the mix.

Drum roll, please: I give you my “Are you ready for this?” picks to click.

1. Yale.  All hail the Ivy League! Amazing how talented this “academic” conference has become. Make no mistake, these Bulldogs can play and have talent in abundance. Point guard Bez Mbeng is a terrific defender, Chicago-area veteran John Poulikidas can shoot from any distance, Nick Townsend is an undersized big, but a really good scorer around the hoops, and Casey Simmons at the four does a little bit of everything.  Watch out for freshman Brendon Mullins coming off the bench to score and ignite.
2. Oklahoma.  Here is my super sleeper pick! The Oklahoma Sooners, coming in at a No. 9 seed. They have to play defending champions UConn in their first game, and if they pull off that upset, would then take on No. 1 seed powerhouse Florida. An unreal double challenge, but watch them do it! What a shock that would be. Am I biased because of the Chicago connection–Porter Moser, their head coach, played at Lockport and coached the Loyola miracle team mentioned above, and their star player is Jeremiah Fears, a Chicago-area kid? Probably yes, guilty as charged. But I am still calling for the double shocker by the kids from Oklahoma
3. Purdue.  OK, not really a Cinderella, as this team was top ten for much of the season. But they slumped the latter half of the season, really struggling down the stretch, including an early out in the Big Ten Tournament. They have pretty much been forgotten now.  But the theory is guards win in March, and Purdue has two of the best in veteran guards, Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer,and also one of the more underrated inside scores in the country in Trace Kauffman-Renn. Prediction? The guards shall lead them all the way to the Elite Eight.
4. Gonzaga.  Gonzaga has been a powerhouse the past decade or so, one of the best teams in the country. But they come in extremely undervalued  with a more pedestrian No. 8 seed. They have struggled at times this year, not dominating like in previous regular seasons. But maybe now? When it is least expected, Gonzaga makes a run to the Final Four. In fact, gang—I am going out on a limb and picking the Zags to win it all in an absolute shocker.

So, there you have it: four teams that could become this year’s “talk of the tournament.” Keep in mind, if not them, then for sure it will be someone else–some other surprise team that maybe we have never heard of before.

One thing almost always becomes evident:  “The chalk” rarely holds true in this tournament—and that is why they call it March Madness.