Four teams remain in the NCAA basketball tournament: Florida Atlantic which is an underdog against San Diego State. Those teams will meet in the early game. The heavily UConn Huskies (-5) and Miami Hurricanes will play the final game at Houston’s NRG Stadium on Saturday.
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Three of these four programs have never been to a Final Four before, making this the first Final Four with three newcomers since 1970.
Florida Atlantic is the highest seed remaining #9 but are also got the best overall record of the four remaining teams (35-3). They’ve made an impressive march through the tournament.
The Owls Flight Path to Texas
FAU edged Memphis 66-65 in its tourney opener then beat Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee and Kansas State. Florida Atlantic trailed in each game and saved its best work for the final minutes of the game.
With 10 minutes remaining in the opener against Memphis, FAU trailed by seven. At more or less the same point in the following games, the Owls trailed FDU by five, Tennessee by six and Kansas State by seven.
That’s a credit to their depth, as the Owls play nine guys for 16-26 minutes per night and always have fresh legs late in games.
They’ve also been absolute terrors on the boards. Rebound margin wasn’t much of a story in their first three games, but they did a number on Kansas State winning the battle of the boards 44-22 in that department.
Who is Florida Atlantic’s MOP Candidate?
It’s Johnell Davis who is averaging 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game in the tournament. Since the beginning of the Conference USA tournament he has scored at least 12 points in 10 straight games. His best game of the tournament came against Fairleigh Dickinson when Davis had 29 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Johnell Davis WENT OFF for FAU to lead them to the Sweet 16.
🔥 29 PTS
🔥 12 REB
🔥 5 AST
🔥 5 STL
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Something’s got to give
Florida Atlantic’s game is shooting the three. They average 10 makes per game and are hitting at 36.5% clip from downtown. San Diego State’s calling card is defending the three.
Will we see a fairy-tale ending
Since the NCAA started officially seeding the field in 1979, eight teams seeded No. 9 or worse have reached the Final Four. None of those teams have played in the subsequent national championship, let alone won the tournament.
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