NCAA Tournament: Ranking the unlikeliest Final Four runs since 2000

3. 2023 Florida Atlantic (9-seed)

Dusty May was an assistant for several schools including a 3-year run at Florida before taking the Florida Atlantic head coaching job in 2018. His first four years were decent, but there wasn’t too much cooking at a program that had virtually zero basketball history, having previously made just a single NCAA Tournament way back in 2002. Things changed in a hurry in Boca Raton.

The Owls were picked to finish 5th in Conference USA before the season, but soon put those predictions to shame. They got an upset win at Florida in mid-November and that began a 20-game winning streak. Florida Atlantic was ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in program history and would later return to the rankings even after a few losses in conference play. They handled their business in the CUSA Tournament and settled for a 9-seed even after tremendous metrics in the NET and other ratings all season long, winning 31 regular season games.

A date with 8-seed Memphis nearly ended everything, but a last second shot from Nicholas Boyd got the Owls to their first Tournament victory in program history. This became a March of making history, as they dealt with 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson in the second round as well. The Owls were beginning to soar and held on for a hard-earned upset over 4-seed Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen. Two days later, they repeated the feat against 3-seed Kansas State and find themselves in the Final Four.

Before the season began, any mention of Florida Atlantic and the Final Four would have been laughable, but May and his crew of young talent, led by sophomores Johnell Davis, Alijah Martin, and Vladislav Goldin, have been unflappable all postseason long. What this program has done this season is almost unimaginable. Their journey isn’t over yet, as they’ll play San Diego State on Saturday. How could a team picked 5th in a good-not-great CUSA have made it all this way?