In A Tourney Full Of Cinderellas, Who Is The Best?

First order of business, congrats to Kevin Frey Wannabe for being referred to as the "most vocal and borderline frightening" fan of the weekend by ESPN.com. That's truly impressive, but hey, if the shoulder goes into the chest, it's a charge!

Second, a moment of silence to remember the 2009-2010 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball team, who finished the season with a loss to Dayton It takes something special to turn a team with such high hopes into such a mediocre ball club. Very few coaches have the ability to underachieve with their teams as much as Mick Cronin does. Again, truly remarkable.

Now, down to business. One of the reasons March Madness is the greatest time of year is that the little guys get to prove that they can compete with the big fellas, and are often very successful. Legends such as Bryce Drew, Steve Nash, and more recently, Stephen Curry all put their respective schools on the map by turning into heroes with the game on the line. But this year is different than any other because of the number of Cinderellas making statements. The question is who will be remembered for the Tourney of 2010? Ohio busted many brackets when they knocked off 3 seed Georgetown, but they have been almost completely forgotten by now. Does anyone even realize that Washington will still be playing next week as an 11 seed? Here is El Fuerto's take on which Cinderellas made the biggest statements, and who is most likely to continue their run.

Northern Iowa The Panthers are the most well-known because of their take down of number one overall Kansas. On ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge, only 0.9% of America picked UNI to the Sweet Sixteen. So basically, not even all of the players' parents thought they could beat Kansas. Anyways, Ali Farokhmanesh made himself a household name after nailing a bold game-sealing three with the shot clock still in the thirties, not to mention he also drilled a game winner against UNLV two days earlier that surely would earned an ONIONS call had Bill Raftery called the game. Even better, Northern Iowa has a very good chance to keep their show rolling as they take on a Kalin Lucas-less Michigan State squad.

Saint Mary's For whatever reason, I really feel that the Gaels haven't received the respect they deserve. Mickey McConnell's off balance banked in go ahead bucket would probably be the play of the Tournament most years, but it really got overshadowed by Ali. The Gaels shouldn't care though because, as Verne Lundquist said about 55 times, the Aussies are unselfish and don't care about the accolades. Mickey had made 8 threes so far in the first two rounds, and also prompted a legendary Bill Raftery quote: "There are raindrops falling on my head Verne", but Omar Samhan runs the team. There is probably not another big man in the Tourney playing as well as Samhan, who averaged over 30 points in the first weekend. The Gaels certainly have Final Four potential, as shown in their win over Nova, but also their previous two games. St Mary's clobbered Gonzaga (by 19) and Richmond (only won by 9, but were up by 17 and took their starters out), so Baylor, Duke, and Purdue better watch out because the Aussie Express could be heading to Indy this year.

Cornell While the Big Red did not take down a legit title contender, they certainly proved themselves last weekend, beating Temple and Wisconsin by a combined 31 points. Ryan Wittman has been the go-to guy all season, but Louis Dale has taken his game to a whole new level lately. Cornell can shoot the three ball (53% against Wisconsin) and can defend it too (Temple shot 29% against them). The Big Red probably has the biggest challenge coming up (Kentucky) but also has the biggest chance to prove themselves as the greatest Cinderella ever.