Elite 8 – Mid Major Madness

Before the 2006 season when the George Mason Patriots made it into the Final Four, the last weekend of the NCAA Tournament was reserved exclusively for the biggest teams from the biggest conferences. However, the Patriots were able to crash the party, and that really started an uprising of the little guys across the country. Check out how the last mid majors standing stack up in the Elite 8 against the big boys!

Butler Bulldogs – Who better to be this season’s version of the Butler Bulldogs than the Butler Bulldogs themselves? Shelvin Mack, Matt Howard, and the gang might not have Gordon Hayward back this season, but they do have a ton of mojo right now, and they are figuring out how to stand in the face of adversity to get the job done on a regular basis.

Head Coach Brad Stevens and company had to go on the road to win the Horizon League title, and the Bulldogs have now found ways to bounce the Old Dominion Monarchs and the Pitt Panthers at the buzzer. The win over the Wisconsin Badgers was a bit less dramatic, but the win against one of the big boys of the dance was really, really impressive.

Up next in the Elite 8 is a date with the Florida Gators.

Richmond Spiders – The Spiders probably have the longest odds on the board of teams in the Sweet 16 to reach the Elite 8 and the Final Four, but you know one thing about them for you. Richmond is going to fight and fight hard for the full 40 minutes, and longer if need be against the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday night. This Richmond program already knows what it is like to beat Kansas, as it did so at Allen Fieldhouse back in 2004 when it scored the shocking 69-68 outright win as 14.5-point underdogs. The Spiders didn’t play much of an out of conference schedule this year though, as they had an SOS in the 170s. Even their run in the NCAA Tournament on the eve of the Elite 8 hasn’t been great, as wins over the Vanderbilt Commodores and Morehead State Eagles isn’t the roughest run in the world.

VCU Rams – Head Coach Shaka Smart has made himself a lot of money in this tournament, as he has taken a VCU team that many thought shouldn’t have even been in the dance in the first place, and made it a contender for the Elite 8. Not only have the Rams beaten both the Georgetown Hoyas and Purdue Boilermakers, both of which were considered dark horses for the Final Four, but they beat those two big boys down with ease. We also can’t forget that First Four win over the USC Trojans either. Strong defense for a full 40 minutes has been the key for this team, as VCU just never lets its guard down. The Rams are playing with an "us against the world" mentality, and in the first 10/11 game in the history of the NCAA Tournament, they have a great shot against the Florida State Seminoles of getting into the Elite 8 and doing a lot of damage after they get there.