FAU men’s NCAA tourney run is historic

Dreaming of an all South Florida championship.

Duke isn’t going. Kentucky isn’t going. Heck, Florida didn’t even get invited to the dance. 

But the Florida Atlantic University Owls are in the Sweet 16.  

FAU advanced Sunday night with a gutsy victory over everyone’s tournament darling, the upset-minded 16th-seed Fairleigh Dickinson University out of New Jersey. FAU will play Tennessee on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

And guess what? The University of Miami is in the final 16 as well. They’ll be taking on top-ranked Houston Friday night in Kansas City.

And it’s not just the men. Miami women led by as much as 14 over No. 1 seed Indiana before breaking a tie with 6 seconds left Monday night to move on to the team’s first Sweet 16 since 1992. The Hurricanes will play Friday against Villanova, which knocked out Florida Gulf Coast University Monday night.

Back to the men: Two of the tourney’s top 16 hail from South Florida. When has that ever happened before?

Well, since FAU has only been to the tourney once before and never advanced this far, and Florida International University has made only one tournament appearance, way back in 1995, and lost, it likely has never happened. 

Could it be an all South Florida men’s college basketball championship game in Houston April 3? It’s a long, long shot but, hey, they’re on opposite ends of the brackets, so, in a word, yes.