Cinderella has a name – that name is Florida Gulf Coast!!!!!!!!!!!   That’s right – the team who has been mentioned throughout the year as an asterisk – the strange blemish on the Miami FL Hurricanes record early in the year – has a new scalp.  Big East Regular Season champions – the Georgetown Hoyas were expected to be competitive as one of the favorites to win the South Region.  Now they return to DC as a footnote – one of only seven #2 seeds to lose to a #15 seed.   And Florida Gulf Coast has a very memorable story in their first ever NCAA Tournament.

One could argue how it is that a small conference school that won 24 games, their conference’s tournament, and of course a marquis victory against Miami FL ended up as a #15 seed.  But the reality is now everyone needs to take notice.  The Eagles have crashed this March party – and it looks like the newcomer wants to make some noise.

Of course, I would be negligent if I didn’t mention the fact that the day has been rough for favorites.  #9 Temple, #12 Ole Miss, and #13 La Salle also took down favorites earlier today to make this a wild day in the tournament.   Not sure if the late games are going to continue at this pace.  But if I were the favorites (Kansas, UCLA, Notre Dame and San Diego State), I would do my best to jump out to an early lead.  The longer these underdogs stick in the game, they appear to just start to pick up confidence.

Congratulations to the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on their first ever NCAA tournament victory.