Florida Gulf Coast has done things in the NCAA tournament that nobody has ever done before. In 2013 the then Andy Enfield-led (now USC head coach) Eagles became the first 15 seed ever to make the Sweet Sixteen after shocking Georgetown in the first round and beating seventh seeded San Diego State in the second round.
That team was known as "Dunk City." This team may not be quite as good or exciting, but its performance on Tuesday night has a lot of people talking. FGCU got out to a big early lead in the game against Fairleigh Dickinson and never looked back as it cruised to a 31-point victory.
The Eagles' next opponent is one-seed North Carolina who comes into this tournament on fire, having won the ACC regular season and conference tournament. North Carolina will enter this game as a huge favorite, and it should, but this Florida Gulf Coast team is pretty good and has many people wondering if it might be the first 16 seed to ever beat a one. Seth Davis during halftime of the game said that FGCU might be the best 16 seed he has ever seen, and for years people have been saying that a 16 will eventually beat a one, so maybe this is a possibility.
Nobody in their right minds is going to pick Florida Gulf Coast over North Carolina on Thursday, night but this is a team that comes in very confident and knows that the program has done unprecedented things in the NCAA tournament before. Sixteen seeds are 0-124 in their games against one seeds in the past, but Eagles star Marc-Eddy Norelia thinks his team has what it takes.
"We've been hearing about it this whole time," said Norelia. "If it's going to happen, it's going to happen this year."
The 6-foot-8 junior forward will be a key factor in the game if FGCU has any chance of pulling off the upset, and he played great on Tuesday, putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds. This North Carolina team has been prone to ups and downs this season and it doesn't shoot the ball well from the perimeter, so those are things that can work in the Eagles' favor. On the other hand, UNC is relentless on the glass and is much bigger and stronger than FGCU, so if it gets multiple shot opportunities every possession the game could turn into a blowout.
It's fun to talk about the potential of FGCU beating UNC on Thursday, but it is likely just being brought up because of the magical run the Eagles had in 2013. This FGCU team may be better than the 16th seed it was given, but it would take a near miracle for it to beat a North Carolina team that comes in playing great basketball.
