Congratulations are due to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Before today, they were known for their surprising victory early in the season against the Miami Hurricanes. Looking back, it feels unbelievable that the regular season ACC champions could have lost to a school from the Atlantic Sun conference.
But now, the Eagles have a new distinction. They are the first of 68 teams to have received their official invite to the Big Dance – they beat Mercer on the Bears’ own home court 88-75 to claim the Atlantic Sun Championship. It will be the first visit ever for Florida Gulf Coast to the NCAA Championship Tournament – who just became a Division I school 6 years ago.
Belmont or Murray State will join the Eagles this evening – as they play tonight for the Ohio Valley Championship. Harvard will get a share of the Ivy League championship with a victory tonight – if they can beat Cornell tonight and Princeton loses to Brown, the Crimson will take the Ivy League’s bid. If Princeton wins tonight, they can force a winner-take-all game against Harvard if they beat Penn on Tuesday.
And of course, I would be crazy not to mention the fact that one of the best rivalries in the game will happen tonight at 9 pm down in Chapel Hill when Duke and North Carolina meet. Lots at stake for many teams tonight – let the games begin!!!!!