Who Are the March Madness Cinderella Teams This Year?

March Madness has officially begun and the brackets for the NCAA men's basketball tournament are out.

In office pools around the country, millions will be studying a course called "bracketology" trying to find this year's national champion, or better yet, this year's Cinderella team like last year's Butler University Bulldogs.

Before you complete your bracket, take a second look at these five teams.

Oakland Grizzlies (25-9): This team is not from Oakland, Calif., but Rochester, in Oakland County, Mich. But there's no confusion on the Grizzlies play this year. Oakland, a No. 13-seed in the West, is the high-scoring Summit League champions which has a road victory over Tennessee this season (89-82). The Grizzlies also had close losses against Michigan State (77-76) and Illinois (74-63), both part of the tournament field this year.

Oakland has been praised by TNT basketball analyst Kenny Smith for its inside-outside combination of Summit League Player of the Year 6-11 Keith Benson and 5-11 guard Reggie Hamilton. Benson and Hamilton went for 28 points and 26, respectively, in Summit League tournament finals against Oral Roberts 90-76. The Grizzlies average 85 points per game and shoot nearly 50 percent from the field, so expect the scoreboard to light up in their game against Texas on Friday.

Richmond Spiders (27-7): The Spiders, a No. 12 seed in the Southwest, are back and yes they have Cinderella history behind them. This year's version of the Spiders scored a convincing win over Purdue on a neutral court early in the season, but then lost two of its next four games and fell off the radar. The Spiders have now regrouped, blowing through the Atlantic 10 tournament, beating Dayton 67-54 in the finals.

Guard Kevin Anderson scored 23 points against Dayton and averages 16.6 points per game. 6-10 forward Justin Harper averages 12.9 points per game and pulls down seven rebounds per contest. The Spiders' opponent, Vanderbilt, is from the Southeastern Conference and may be looking ahead to a potential match against Louisville in the next round.

Wofford Terriers (21-12): The Terriers, a No. 14 seed in the Southeast, are the Southern Conference tournament champions. They are in the Big Dance for the second consecutive year, so they won't have the same jitters you would find with other non-power conference schools. Wofford has a victory over George Mason (82-79, OT) and have won eight in a row.

One of the things that make this game attractive is because Wofford is playing Brigham Young. The Cougars, with high-scoring national player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette, have a 3-2 record since losing Brandon Davies, their top inside presence. Wofford's top player is 6-6 forward Noah Dahlman, who is averaging 20.1 points per game ans show make some noise in the paint. BYU could also be looking forward to a possible second round match against the winner of the St. John's-Gonzaga contest. In fact, that match is mentioned in the second paragraph of a story on BYU's website discussing the Cougars' game with Wofford. Curious.

Old Dominion (27-6): The Monarchs, a No. 9 seed in the Southeast, finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association but have won nine games in a row to take the CAA tournament. 6-9 Frank Hassell is a big time ball player in the middle, averaging 15 points per game. Guard Kent Bazemore (12.5 ppg) has proven a strong complement. Old Dominion has wins over Atlantic 10 champion Xavier (67-58) and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tourney champion St. Peter's (59-52) and barely loss to Big East member Georgetown (62-59).

Old Dominion opens with Butler, which surprised everyone last year, but will have Old Dominion's full attention in the first round.

San Diego State (32-2): Wait. Aren't the Aztecs a No. 2 seed? How can they be a Cinderella? Here is where some of our Bracketology experts will look at San Diego State's lack of big time opponents through the season and see the Aztecs as potential victims to possibly Temple in third round or maybe Connecticut in the fourth round.

Don't do it. San Diego State is legit and coach Steve Fisher has been around the block a few times. This team could very well end up in the Final Four and to make them as a potential upset victim would be foolish. 6-7 Kawhi Leonard (15.4 ppg, 10.7 rpg) and 6-9 Malcolm Thomas (11.5 ppg, 8.2 rpg) along with D.J. Gay (11.2 ppg) will be a handful against every team in the country, so don't be fooled. Expect a San Diego State-Duke match-up for the regional final and do be so quick to pencil in the Blue Devils.