Winthrop has returned to the NCAA Tournament after rolling through the Big South tournament. As the Eagles prepare for their latest journey into March Madness, we look at a mid-major March regular.

Record: 23-1 overall, 17-1 Big South

Bid: Automatic

NCAA Tournament appearances: 11.

As mentioned before, Winthrop has been a staple of the NCAA Tournament since 1999. Their record is 1-10 with their only victory coming against Notre Dame in the first round of the 2007 tournament. The Eagles last appeared in the field of 68 in 2017, losing in the first round to Butler 74-64. 

Coach: Now in his ninth season in Rock Hill, Pat Kelsey has won 185 games, including 109 in the Big South, both the most in the conference over that nine-year span. A good showing in the NCAA Tournament will put the 45-year old on the map in a big way.

Best player: Chandler Vaudrin was named the Big South Player of the Year, Vaudrin is a versatile player who averages 12.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. He also shoots 48 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three-point range.

Strengths: Winthrop can score, leading the Big South in points per game with 79.2. While Vaudrin is the team's leading scorer, the Eagles have plenty of players that are capable of chipping in and contributing on the offensive end as evidenced by Kelsey using a rotation of 11 players.

Weaknesses: It's hard to find one with a team that lost just once as they rank in the top five in the Big South in just about every category, but one of the few they don't is free-throw shooting. Winthrop was tied for sixth at 68.6 percent. If it's a close game, send the Eagles to the line.

Overall tournament outlook: Winthrop will be a popular pick to pull of an upset as a double-digit seed, which could both help them and hurt them. On the one hand, everyone will recognize how good they are, but on the other hand, their opponent will have to hear this leading up to the game and can use it as motivation.

In many ways, the Eagles are good enough to build a mid-major dynasty and get the opportunity to be on the big stage, but the 1-10 record shows they just fall short except for the win over Notre Dame. Vaudrin leads what is Kelsey's best team in his time at Rock Hill and come a couple of weeks, we may be talking about them again.