Apparently, Cinderella has traded in her pretty dress and glass slippers for a dog collar and mean snarl.
That is how it seems anyways after three schools from non-major conferences, headlined by No. 8 seed Florida Atlantic and No. 5 seed San Diego State, emerged from the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight round this weekend and are headed to play in a Final Four in Houston this week that nobody saw coming.
“You know, they’re going to label us whatever, but we’re some pit bulls and rottweilers,” FAU sophomore guard Alijah Martin said after the Owls got past No. 3 seed Kansas State, 79-76, in an Elite Eight game. “We go out there and show it every night. Just label — just call us beast boys, you know, because we’re going to come out and show you how it’s done.”
The Owls, who had not won an NCAA Tournament game before last Friday’s opening round, now have a chance to become the first No. 9 seed to win the national championship. Only six other lower-seeded teams have advanced to the Final Four.
Now, the Owls and Aztecs join the ranks of Loyola Chicago, George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, Wichita State, and Butler as the unlikeliest teams to reach the Final Four.
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“I’m just happy for our guys and our staff,” said FAU coach Dusty May, whose team is 35-3 and won the Conference USA regular season and tournament titles after being picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll. “These guys, man, for five years, I’ve been a head coach and I’ve never felt for one minute I didn’t have a group that was trying to help and support and make me better than what I am. And that’s kind of how our guys are. Their teammates make them better than they are. We’ve done it together.”
But the Owls are far from alone in making an improbable run to the Final Four. San Diego State, a No. 5 seed in the South, manhandled No. 1 overall seed Alabama in the Sweet 16 round and then squeaked by another surprising mid-major in Creighton during Sunday’s Regional Final. It’s the first time a Mountain West program has moved on to the Final Four.
A Final Four without the blue bloods
Fourth-seeded UConn is the closest thing in this Final Four to a blue blood with the Huskies aiming to claim their fifth national title in the last 24 years, but they are competing out of the downgraded Big East.
Miami, the fifth seed in the Midwest region, is the only Power 5 conference school heading to Houston. But the Hurricanes are well short of being an elite basketball program as they will be making their first Final Four appearance after coming up short in last year’s Elite Eight.
There will be much talk this week about the busted bracket Final Four and what has set the stage for a national title game that will feature either FAU or San Diego State vs. the UConn-Miami winner. Parity in college basketball has never been more apparent and it has been aided by players flip-flopping schools like free agents in the transfer portal along with the extra year of eligibility players have received due to the pandemic that has helped level the playing field.
As a fallout, we seemed to have smaller schools winning big games in this NCAA Tournament than ever before. It started with No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson knocking off No. 1 seed Purdue, becoming just the second 16th seed to beat a No.1 seed in NCAA Tournament history.
But it didn’t stop there. Princeton toppled No. 2 Arizona and No. 7 Missouri, and FAU ran through No. 9 Memphis, No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson, No. 4 Tennessee, and No. 3 Kansas State to get to the Final Four.
Parity comes to NCAA Tournament
The fact that there wasn’t a No. 1 seed still alive for the Elite Eight round is the biggest proof that parity in basketball will make it hard to seed the Tournament going forward.
Alabama coach Nate Oats didn’t say what he thought the reason was for so many non-major conference schools to dominate this year, but he knows the Crimson Tide ran into an Aztecs squad that isn’t taking a backseat to anyone.
“San Diego State is a very good team,” Oats said. “When you get to the Sweet 16, you know, all the teams are good at this point. You know, they’re a tough, physical, veteran group.”
Kansas State coach Jerome Tang also left the floor with great respect for the FAU program. And he left the Owls with some parting words to carry them into the Final Four.
“Nobody can beat y’all,” Tang said. “Just stay together. Don’t get distracted between now and then. Alright? Stay locked in. Keep doing what you’re doing. Y’all are the toughest son of a guns we’ve played all year long.”
Terrance Harris covers college basketball for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @TerranceHarris.