If you are a big fan of college basketball, you have probably noticed the increase of upsets.

George Mason making the Final Four last year was probably the biggest breakthrough for the mid-major conferences. Oral Roberts beating Kansas, Butler beating IU, North Dakota State beating Marquette, Dayton beating Louisville. These are all upsets that have happened throughout this college basketball season.

Why are there so many more than in the past? Coaches getting players who will stay for four years is a better strategy than just grabbing the top recruits. Look at the University of Louisville; they made it to the Final Four with several upperclassmen.

North Carolina took the 2004 National Title with three key juniors. It’s hard to make it to the Final Four and expect to win it all with all freshmen and sophomores.

Kentucky had success a few years ago with several upperclassmen leading them to a No. 1 seed and a trip to the Elite Eight, where they lost in triple overtime to Michigan State.

How are they doing it with the players they have? They grab the best players they can find and find great three-point shooters. Without them, they wouldn’t be there. The players sticking together make it so much easier to develop team chemistry. You don’t have to re-teach everything.

Some teams like North Carolina have been able to be very successful, with the Heels winning a national title a couple of years ago. However, because other teams like Louisville are losing players to the NBA, they will remain a young team forever.

If you look at Florida, they have two seniors and three juniors, and they won the national title last year and are a force to be reckoned with. All of them are back this year.

Meanwhile, Kansas, which made a Final Four appearance a couple of years ago, is recovering from losing several players to the NBA and will be a good team in the tournament this year.

So, will there be another George Mason in the Final Four this year? Probably not, but Missouri State, Butler and Wichita State all have the capabilities to do that this year. There will be a lot of Cinderella’s again this year.

A team like Louisville or Kentucky could sneak in there and grab a national title this year because college basketball is so shaky with all the mid-majors. There is no easy win anymore.

The Missouri Valley Conference is a conference that has emerged onto the scene.

Southern Illinois used to be the only good team in there until last year when Missouri State, Creighton, Wichita State, and Southern Illinois all made appearances in the tournament predictions.

All those teams got in but two of them. So until players stay again, no win is guaranteed, and a No. 16 seed beating a No. 1 seed is not out of the question.