Who? The Bulldogs of Samford.
What? They started life as the Tigers, but didn't want to be confused with Auburn. Spike is kind of scary-looking.
Where? Homewood, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham.
When? March 5th, at the U.S. Cellular Center in Asheville, North Carolina.
Why? They won the Southern Conference tournament.
How? Samford went on a 20-8 run to beat Appalachian State 54-43. Jazmine Powers had 14 points, seven rebounds, and three steals.
Surprise? Yes. They were picked third and fourth in the Southern Conference polls, and finished fourth in the conference.
Record: 20-12 (12-8 Southern)
RPI (as of 3/5): 114
SOS (as of 3/5):178
Good wins: The long SoCon schedule, a true round-robin, doesn't allow for much out of conference play; knocking off Appalachian State in the finals might be the best win they have. They at least took a shot at Florida and Kentucky.
Bad losses: Two sets of back-to-back losses in SoCon play does not look good.
Who's running this show? Mike Morris, since 2002; he started at the school on the men's side.
Senior guard Paige Anderson leads this team in scoring, putting up 12.4 points per game; more than half of her shots come from beyond the arc. They're going to need her to be hot from out there to overcome their rebounding issues.