Could Hofstra or LIU be this year’s Cinderella in the NCAA Tournament?
· Yahoo Sports
Hofstra waited 25 years to return to the NCAA Tournament.
It sure as heck doesn’t want its comeback to end in one day.
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“We’re not just one of those teams that’s happy to be here,” head coach Speedy Claxton said Sunday on CBS Sports Network.
“We fully expect to win.”
Hofstra is one of three New York teams competing in this year’s Big Dance, joining St. John’s and Long Island University.
But while fifth-seeded St. John’s arrives with lofty expectations after again dominating the Big East, 13-seed Hofstra and 16-seed LIU are both heavy underdogs with dreams of becoming this postseason’s Cinderella.
After earning an automatic bid with a Coastal Athletic Association Tournament championship, Hofstra (24-10) is set to open March Madness on Friday afternoon against fourth-seeded Alabama (23-9) in Tampa.
“Hofstra’s good. I can’t say I love the draw,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats.
“They have very good guards. … I think Cruz Davis is one of the best mid-major guards in the country. I watched their championship game against Monmouth. I think Speedy Claxton’s one of the better mid-major coaches in the country.”
Davis, the CAA Player of the Year, leads Hofstra in scoring at 20.2 points per game and shoots 39.9% on 3-pointers.
The junior guard began his college career under Rick Pitino at Iona in 2022-23, then followed Pitino to St. John’s for the 2023-24 season. This is Davis’ second season with the Pride.
Freshman guard Preston Edmead — who hails from Deer Park, Long Island — averages 15.9 points per game and shoots 38.3% from deep.
But the face of the Pride is unmistakably Claxton, a Hofstra alum and seven-year NBA point guard.
Hofstra is 105-62 in five seasons under the Queens-born coach and is now back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.
“We worked hard for this,” Claxton told CBS. “It’s been a long time coming, not just for myself but the program, the university, the community. This means everything to us.”
Hofstra has its hands full with Alabama, the highest-scoring Division I team (91.7 points per game) for the third year in a row.
Led by sophomore Labaron Philon Jr. (21.7 points per game), the Crimson Tide boast one of the deepest backcourts in the country.
Notably, the Tide beat St. John’s, 103-96, at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 8.
But Alabama is dealing with a pre-tournament distraction, as junior guard Aden Holloway — the team’s second-leading scorer — was arrested Monday on a felony marijuana charge, according to police.
An upset is not impossible, as 13-seeds own a cumulative record of 33-127 (20.6%) against 4-seeds in the NCAA Tournament. It happened most recently in 2024 when Yale knocked off Auburn.
If Hofstra were to win, it would face the winner of No. 5 Texas Tech and No. 12 Akron in the second round. No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Iowa State and No. 3 Virginia are the top seeds in the Midwest Region.
“They’re gonna be fighting for their lives,” Oats said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for a program like Hofstra, so we’re gonna have to come in, take them super serious.”
The odds are worse for LIU, as 16-seeds are only 2-158 (1.3%) against No. 1 seeds all time.
But an upset did happen as recently as 2023, when Fairleigh Dickinson University of Teaneck, N.J., knocked off Purdue.
LIU is set to face No. 1 Arizona on Friday afternoon in San Diego.
The Sharks, who won the Northeast Conference Tournament, landed their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2018.
They, too, are a guard-driven team, with seniors Jamal Fuller, Malachi Davis and Greg Gordon all averaging more than 14 points per game.
The trip to the Big Dance underscores LIU’s extreme turnaround under Bronx-born head coach Rod Strickland, a 17-year NBA guard who began his playing career with the Knicks.
The Sharks have improved their win total in each of Strickland’s four seasons, going from 3-26 in 2022-23 to 24-10 this season.
“I know they’ve got a good coach, and he was heck of a basketball player,” said Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd.
“I grew up a Portland Trail Blazer fan, and Rod had a great stretch of his career in Portland. … I don’t formally know him, but I know he’s been around college basketball and good players for a long time. … It’s a really cool story to see him have success.”
Standing in Strickland’s way for the ultimate success story is a juggernaut Arizona team (32-2) that won the loaded Big 12’s regular-season and conference-tournament championships.
Arizona ranks fifth in the country in offensive rating and third in defensive rating, according to the analytics website KenPom. No. 1 overall seed Duke is the only other team to crack the top five in both metrics.
The Wildcats have star power to match, as guard Brayden Burries and center Koa Peat are both potential lottery picks in this year’s NBA Draft.
The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of No. 8 Villanova and No. 9 Utah State. No. 2 Purdue and No. 3 Gonzaga are the other top seeds in the West Region.
“We’re treating everything the same,” Lloyd said. “We’re not doing anything different this week. We’re not going to practice any different this week. … We’re just gonna double down on what we’ve done all year, and double down on a strong culture, and double down on respecting our opponents.”
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