Cinderella Casting 2015: Patriot League Auto Bid

Only one team punched its bid to the Big Dance yesterday, which gives us fans a second to catch up. Twelve automatics bids have already been claimed, but the heat gets turned up this weekend as the big boys begin to take center stage in Championship Week.

We’re still here covering the little guy, though, so let’s take a look at the lone clincher from Wednesday night.

Patriot

Automatic Bid: Lafayette

Projected Seed: 16

Probability of being a Cinderella: Very Unlikely

The Lafayette Leopards have made three NCAA Tournaments in school history, so the team making it this year after coming into the Patriot League tournament as a four seed was as big a shock to steadfast followers of the squad as it is to casual basketball fans. While very few people are likely to have the Leopards moving on to the third round, this is a team that could provide some excitement next Thursday or Friday. As the No. 9 team in the nation in shooting percentage and a top 40 team in points per contest, Lafayette isn’t going to just roll over and die. These guys are going to come ready to put the ball in the hoop and probably won’t have second thoughts about anything that they throw up.

The team also has the second best three point shooting percentage in the country, so if the Leopards let enough shots fly, the unlikely could happen. Oddly enough, Lafayette’s leading scorer is a 6’9″ forward from Australia named Dan Trist, who not surprisingly shoots very well from outside for a frontcourt player. This is the type of team that, allowed the ability to hang around in a game could simply get lucky and hit a big shot at the right time. It just isn’t worth putting money on for that to happen.

– K. Becks