:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72066641/usa_today_20210383.0.jpg "March Madness 2023 prediction: Potential Cinderella Team from Midwest Region")
March Madness has arrived, and it's Cinderella season. Who will be this year's 2021 Oral Roberts or 2022 St. Peter's? Here at DK Nation, we're making our picks for a Cinderella in each region. Check out our choice in the Midwest here before you set your brackets this week:
2023 March Madness: Midwest Region Cinderella Team
Pick: Kent State Golden Flashes
Kent State just might be the kind of team that is perfectly built for a deep run. The 28-win team won the MAC Championship game over Toledo, 93-78, but that isn't what qualifies them as a Cinderella campaign. They took a very strong Charleston team to the line, fell 49-44 to now-No. 1 seed Houston, and fell in single digits to Gonzaga. These may have all been losses in the regular season, but we know how March goes, and things could just as easily turn the other way.
The 13th-seeded Golden Flashes face the No. 4 Indiana Hoosiers in the first round. IU will be no easy opponent, but Kent State's suffocating defense could target star Trayce Jackson-Davis and hinder the Hoosiers offense. Their defense ranks 38th in adjusted efficiency at KenPom, and Sincere Carry has been an offensive breakout star for the Flashes.