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March Madness: Best mid-major NCAA Tournament moments of the past decade

By Brian Emory

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 17: Doug Edert #25 of the St. Peter's Peacocks and his teammates celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 17, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. St. Peter's Peacocks won in overtime, 85-79. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MARCH 17: Doug Edert #25 of the St. Peter's Peacocks and his teammates celebrate after defeating the Kentucky Wildcats in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament held at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 17, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. St. Peter's Peacocks won in overtime, 85-79. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
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March Madness Sherwood Brown #25 of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
March Madness Sherwood Brown #25 of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

Florida Gulf Coast (2013)

If you had never heard of Florida Gulf Coast University heading into the 2013 NCAA Tournament, you weren’t the only one. The Eagles didn’t reach Division 1 status until 2007, and six years later they clinched their first ticket to the Big Dance after winning the Atlantic Sun Tournament.

Since they were making their tournament debut, it would have been fair to expect nerves and passive play from an inexperienced group. The exact opposite happened. After being named a 15-seed, the Eagles were paired with a group of college basketball aristocrats in the Georgetown Hoyas. A top-10 squad all season, the Hoyas had their sights set on a Final Four run while the Eagles easily could have played the role of a team that was just happy to be there.

FGCU raised some eyebrows after holding a surprising 24-22 lead at the break, but the Eagles put the entire college basketball landscape on notice with their second-half performance. While the Eagles wound up winning the game by 10, the game was never actually that close. Joe Dooley’s group broke the game wide open in the final 20 minutes, highlighted by a 21-2 run at one point.

Anytime a 15-seed topples a 2-seed the upset is going to go down in the annals of college basketball history, but the Eagles will especially always be remembered for wreaking havoc on the rims against Georgetown. This unheard-of group from Fort Myers went on a stretch where they were playing like the Harlem GlobeTrotters, and the Hoyas had no answer.

Remember the part about how these moments can alter the direction of a university? After FGCU’s emphatic entrance on the sport’s grandest stage the university reported a 35% increase in applications the next year.

The Eagles weren’t done after the Georgetown upset, either. After toppling the Hoyas, Florida Gulf Coast earned a trip to the Sweet 16 after beating San Diego State 81-71 in the Round of 32. FGCU’s dream run came to an end following a loss to Florida, and the Eagles have punched two more tickets to the Big Dance since.

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