This Time, Cinderella Is Named Bradley

"March Madness" resumes Thursday night. The NCAA basketball tournament is down to it "Sweet Sixteen."

None of the remaining teams is considered a more improbable survivor than the Braves, from Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.

As CBS News Correspondent John Blackstonereports, theirs is a classic Cinderella story: a school not many have heard of, but that more and more people are now rooting for.

For many, the best part of March Madness is the Cinderellas, the tiny or unknown schools that beat the basketball powers.

That this year's glass slipper belongs to Bradley has many people asking, "Bradley who?"

Fans Blackstone spoke to in Oakland, one of the NCAA venues, admitted they'd never heard of Bradley.

But in their first game, the Braves shocked the experts by beating powerful Kansas.

Next came Pittsburgh. The scoreboard called it the "Brad-Pitt" game, but Bradley fans called it the sweetest victory in 50 years — the last time their team got this far.

When the players returned to Peoria, it seemed like the whole town was there to greet them.

"Two thousand people in an airplane hangar: It's absolutely phenomenal. You can't ask for a lot better than this!" exclaimed team member Sam Singh.

Now, the team is adjusting to the national spotlight, with autograph hunters after the players, and motorcycle cops to make sure their bus gets thru.

The attention isn't entirely new, coach Jim Les insists, saying, "In central Illinois, they're the biggest show in town."

And now, says Blackstone, the rest of the country is sitting up and taking notice.

He adds that many Braves admit even they hadn't heard of Bradley until they started going there.

But, concludes Blackstone, if Bradley wins their game Thursday night against Memphis, it shouldn't be hard for anybody to find Peoria: Just listen for the shouting.