The Wofford Terriers are quite possibly the best story of the 2018-19 regular season. They've won 20 consecutive games, rolling through the Southern Conference slate unbeaten and winning the tournament championship for the fifth time since 2010. Fletcher Magee is a guard who was made for March, with 502 3-pointers in his career. Their outstanding leader, Mike Young, has already been awarded one national coach of the year award. Can the Terriers run through the bracket and cap a special season?
ESPN+ has your answers, as Joe Lunardi has enlisted a team of bracketologists to compile advanced metrics, key scouting intel and best- and worst-case tournament scenarios for all 68 teams to help you make smart picks in your bracket.
TOURNEY PROFILE
Best wins: Furman (twice), at South Carolina, ETSU (three times)
Worst losses: at Oklahoma, at Mississippi State
Regular season conference finish: 1st, Southern
Polls and metrics: BPI ranked the Terriers at No. 15 as of March 10, while KenPom had them slightly worse at No. 18. The NCAA's new NET ranking was most favorable, putting Wofford No. 14 in its most recent release.
All-time tourney record: 0-4
Coach (tourney record): Mike Young (0-4)
PERSONNEL
(Note: Player statistics are through games of March 11.)
Starting lineup
F Cameron Jackson (14.4 PPG, 7.5 RPG)
F Keve Aluma (7.0 PPG, 6.8 RPG)
G Fletcher Magee (20.4 PPG, 2.7 RPG)
G Nathan Hoover (13.2 PPG, 2.4 RPG)
G Storm Murphy (8.1 PPG, 3.1 APG)
Key bench players
C Matthew Pegram (5.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG)
F Chevez Goodwin (4.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG)
G Donovan Theme-Love (1.9 PPG, 1.5 RPG)
G Tray Hollowell (5.5 PPG, 1.8 RPG) G Ryan Larson (3.4 PPG, 1.3 RPG)
Biggest strength: The Terriers are ridiculously efficient on the offensive end. Sure, most of the attention from media, fans and defenders centers on Magee, who hit 41 percent of 3s this season. But each member of the starting lineup sports an offensive rating of 117.0 or better. Jackson is a 6-9, 255-pound forward whose nifty footwork earned him the nickname "Dancing Bear" from Young. Wofford leads the nation in points per possession in three distinct offensive categories: transition, spot-up shooting and pick-and-roll.
Biggest weakness: The free throw line. It's all relative of course, but the Terriers score only 11 points per game at the line, hitting 70.7 percent, which is slightly below the national average. Then again, the ball is likely to be in Magee's hands at the end of a tight game, and he has made 91 percent in his career.
Best player: Magee attempted 31 percent of the Terriers' shots while on the floor and hit 48 percent of 2-pointers and 41 percent of 3-pointers against D-I opponents. The two-time SoCon player of the year, Magee enters the tournament with at least 20 points in 12 of the last 15 games. He torches teams coming off screens, in spot-up situations and operating as the pick-and-roll ball handler.
X factor: Hoover. Just ask UNC-Greensboro ... they allowed Hoover to score 20 points in the SoCon tournament championship game. He benefits from Magee's presence and actually shot a higher percentage than his backcourt mate this season, hitting 76 of 165 (46 percent) vs. D-I teams. The 6-4 junior can launch his shot over most defenders and is one of the most dangerous spot-up shooters in the field.
SCOUTING REPORT
How they beat you: Relentless offensive execution, shot-making and unselfish basketball. Wofford has eight players who have 30 assists or more. Jackson's inside scoring presence gives the Wofford guards more room to operate beyond the 3-point arc. He was used on one-third of the Terriers' possessions when in the game, converted 58 percent of 2s, assisted on 25 percent of the team's field goals and made seven 3-pointers just to keep defenders honest.
How you beat them: Power conference opponents sporting athleticism and frontcourt size made Wofford look pedestrian. The Terriers lost their games to UNC, Kansas, Oklahoma and Mississippi State by an average of 14.5 points per game, suffering a double-digit defeat in each game. Each team scored at least 1.05 points per possession as Wofford couldn't force turnovers or stop the parade of 2-point baskets.
WHAT THE NUMBERS SAY
(Note: All statistics in this section are courtesy of kenpom.com and are accurate through games of March 10.)
NATIONAL RANKS
Offensive efficiency, 9th (118.5)
Defensive efficiency, 42nd (96.2)
3-point percentage, 2nd (41.6)
3-point percentage D, 78th (32.7)
Free throw rate, 305th (27.7)
Free throw rate D, 155th (31.8)
TO percentage, 33rd (16.2)
TO percentage D, 124th (19.3)
HOW FAR WILL THEY GO?
Best-case scenario: Second weekend
This is the first NCAA appearance for this group of Terriers, but they have the tools to survive-and-advance. Great guard play is an obvious necessity in March, and the steady point guard Murphy paired with scoring machines Magee and Hoover make the Terriers dangerous. Jackson anchors a four-man frontcourt rotation that should enable Wofford to withstand a rash of fouls.
Worst-case scenario: One-and-done
After months as the nation's darling, the weight of what Wofford is trying to accomplish becomes more than the Terriers can bear. If the shots aren't falling, they'll have to answer the challenge on the defensive end, where they allowed an effective field goal percentage of 50.2 (150th in the nation) this season. The Terriers have won games when both teams scored in the 50s and when both teams scored in the 100s. They'll have to rely on that versatility to make a historic run.