DAN GARTLAND

Good morning, I'm Dan Gartland. If you want to compare your March Madness prediction skills to SI's experts, be sure to enter our bracket challenge here. 

✅ March Madness picks

⚾ Team USA advances in WBC

⛳ Åberg sinks at the Players

Kamil Krzaczynski/Imagn Images

March Madness is officially here. After the conference tournament appetizers, the brackets for the men's and women's NCAA tournaments were released on Sunday. Our experts have already published their predictions for both brackets and will have plenty more indispensable information before the first round tips off on Thursday, but you can never have too much March Madness coverage, right? Here are six teams (three men's, three women's) that caught my eye as potential Cinderella picks. 

High Point men (No. 12 seed, facing No. 5 Wisconsin at 1:50 p.m. ET on Thursday)

High Point is back in the tournament for the second year in a row after losing to Purdue in the first round as a 13-seed last year. Nearly every contributor from that team graduated, but the Panthers replaced them with a bunch of experienced transfers. They lost their head coach, too, as Alan Huss took an assistant job at Creighton. (Huss, a former Creighton player and longtime Bluejays assistant, was named coach-in-waiting to take over whenever Greg McDermott retires.) Flynn Clayman, his top assistant, replaced him. 

High Point has picked up right where it left off under Clayman, continuing to boast one of the best offenses in the nation. The Panthers ranked third nationally in offensive efficiency this season, the same as last year. What's different is that High Point also has a top-notch defense. After ranking 111th in defensive rating last season, it was 19th this year. The Panthers are tied with Iowa State for the fourth-best defensive turnover percentage in the nation. Wisconsin has not coughed up the ball much this season (it's actually tied with High Point for the fifth-lowest offensive turnover percentage) but High Point could force the Badgers to make some costly mistakes.

Forde Minutes: Everything You Need to Know About Men's March Madness

Kevin Sweeney: San Diego State, Auburn Left Out of NCAA Tournament Field

Emma Baccellieri, Michael Rosenberg: Biggest Takeaways From Women's NCAA Tournament Bracket

Blake Silverman: First Look at Fort Worth, Sacramento Regions

Be sure to read this newsletter every day for daily coverage of the men's and women's NCAA tournaments until the men's champion cuts the nets, forward to a friend.

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… things I saw yesterday: 

5. A tough bucket for Jalen Brunson as the Knicks came back to beat the Warriors. New York overcame a 21-point deficit for its biggest comeback win of the season. 

4. Jeffrey Viel's no-look assist on the Ducks' game-winning goal against the Canadiens. 

3. Aaron Judge's perfect throw to nail Fernando Tatis Jr. at third. 

2. Julio Rodríguez's home run robbery on Judge's shot to center. 

1. Penn forward TJ Power's game-tying shot in the final seconds to force overtime against Yale in the Ivy League championship. Power and Penn went on to win in OT to punch their ticket to the Big Dance. 

In the latest installment of Sports Illustrated's Where Are They Now series, we track what happened to the players and coaches behind Florida Gulf Coast's electrifying 2013 March Madness run.

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix provides a weekly spotlight, featuring in-depth reporting and sharp commentary, on the biggest fights and stories inside the ring.

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