Photo via GoCrimson.com

Though lovable UMass is quite the underdog in the West Regional, Jeremy Lin’s old stomping grounds may have a decent shot at a deep NCAA tournament run. Or at least, better than its peers.

Harvard, appearing in the Big Dance for the third consecutive year after capturing their fourth consecutive Ivy League title, has the best chance of any 12-seed or worse in this year’s field to make the Sweet 16, according to ESPN.

Last year, the Crimson (26-4) nabbed its first NCAA tournament win in school history, defeating the No. 3 seeded University of New Mexico 68-62 as a 14-seed in the West Regional. Harvard was a 10 1/2-point underdog heading into that game.

The Crimson’s luck would run out, however, losing 74–51 to the Arizona Wildcats in the third round.

This time around, Harvard will face University of Cincinatti on Thursday in Spokane, Wash. in their first game, in which Las Vegas has the ivy leaguers as 3-point underdogs. The odds haven’t stopped analysts from betting on the upset with CBS Sports’ Doug Gottlieb and Clark Kellogg both picking Harvard to pull it off.

“As a result of what happened last year in the tournament, we’re not going to be surprising anybody anymore,” junior guard Wesley Saunders told Bloomberg, “We’ve got to go out and expect everybody’s best shot. I don’t think anybody is looking past us this year.”

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