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Buy or sell? Round 2 March Madness Cinderella teams

The first round of March Madness brought a few Cinderella teams into the spotlight. Who will stay in it after round two?

By Nick Simon
Saint Peter’s Peacocks head coach Shaheen Hollway reacts after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats during the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

The first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament is in the books and a handful of Cinderella teams remain standing as we head into round two.

These teams already experienced the thrill of taking down a higher-ranked opponent and the question now is if they can do it again. Some of these teams could very much see the clock strike midnight over the next 48 hours while others can keep their unexpected runs going.

Here’s which Cinderella’s to buy in the second round and which Cinderella’s to sell.

Cinderella teams to buy

  • No. 12 Richmond: One week ago, no one thought the Spiders would even be in the field. And now here they are knocking on the door of a Sweet Sixteen berth. Richmond streaked its way through the A-10 Tournament to earn the auto-bid and then pulled off a shocker on Thursday when sending No. 5 Iowa home with a 67-64 upset. The Spiders will face No. 4 Providence on Saturday and the Friars experienced some issues putting away another potential Cinderella in South Dakota State on Thursday. Richmond could very much keep this going, so keep your eye on the A-10 champs this weekend.

Cinderella teams to sell

  • No. 12 New Mexico State: The Aggies pulled off a shocker of their own when taking down No. 5 UConn on Thursday, marking the program’s first NCAA Tournament win in over 50 years. They were carried by an offensive explosion by Teddy Allen, who dropped 37 points in the win. It was a one-man show and No. 4 Arkansas should be able to prevent one guy from dicing it up during Saturday’s second round matchup. Don’t expect the Aggies to make it past the weekend.
  • No. 15 Saint Peter’s: The single biggest upset of the first round came when a small school from Jersey City, NJ, took down No. 2 Kentucky in overtime. The MAAC Tournament champions out-hustled the blueblood and advanced to round two. They’ll have another tough test on Saturday against No. 7 Murray State, who also survived an overtime battle to advance. Considering that the Racers are on a 21-game winning streak, it’s hard to imagine the Peacocks keeping it going.

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