March 28, 2024

Florida Gulf Coast among set NCAA regional semis

On a day that boasted several close-but-not-quite upset threats, Florida Gulf Coast (aka. Dunk City or Florida Dunk Coast) bucked things with a 10-point win over San Diego State to become the first No. 15 seed ever in the Sweet 16. Indiana and Ohio State beat even lower seeded teams Sunday — and had much more stressful games.

“These guys are rock stars,” TBS announcer Len Elmore said as a few Eagles players walked up into the stands at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia to nab some seats during the first half of the Creighton-Duke game.

Of the 8.15 million brackets filled out on ESPN.com, just under 1 percent — about 77,000 — had Florida Gulf Coast making the Sweet 16.

Fewer than 3,000 have them winning the title.

They’ll join No. 12 seed Oregon and 13th-seeded La Salle as the lowest seeded teams in the Sweet 16. Also in: top seeds Louisville, Kansas and Indiana, along with Duke, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wichita State, Arizona, Marquette, Miami, Syracuse, Florida and Michigan.