In the NCAA Tournament so far, we all have been introduced to the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles -- America's and the "Cinderella" team of the NCAA Tournament. Before the tournament, many people did not know what conference the Eagles played in or where the school is even located.
To answer your questions, the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles play in the Atlantic Sun conference and the school is located in Fort Myers, Fla. It is the school with a beach located right outside its window. This team has been the greatest story in college basketball in a while. They play team basketball, they have playmakers that you probably haven't heard of, and what makes it better is that they are the new "Lob City" of college basketball.
FGCU's athleticism has been documented throughout the NCAA Tournament with their flashy alley-oop dunks led by their sophomore point guard Brent Comer. Comer is the straw that stirs the drink for the Eagles, and senior guard Sherwood Brown is that extra kick. Brown has been playing phenomenally in the NCAA tournament, leading the Eagles over the number two seed Georgetown Hoyas in the second round and then number seven seed San Diego State Aztecs in the third round to reach the Sweet 16.
Brown has even led the charge to a new trend in shaking the hand of announcers after each game is over. Even though those two players are technically "stars" of the team you cannot forget about sophomore guard Bernard Thompson and junior forward Chase Fieler just to name a few more players. People always mentioned how this team defeated the Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes early in the season, but nobody expected the run that the Eagles would put together.
This team is led by second year head coach Andy Enfield, who does have the supermodel wife, but gets the best out of his players and is always coaching until the final buzzer sounds. The way that the team plays reflects their coach. Hopefully, this run continues in the NCAA Tournament because FGCU gives us hope in our lives to show how to give somebody an opportunity and watch them run with it.
FGCU will always remember this past weekend in Philadelphia because they won more games than the Philadelphia Eagles plus the captured the hearts of the Philadelphia sports fans. If you don't know about the Philadelphia sports fan, they love the underdog and they love blue collar teams! Teams that hard work and put their maximum effort towards each game.
The FGCU Eagles have become such a huge story that Fort Myers, Florida has been renamed "Dunk City". That is so much better than Lob City in my opinion. For a small school that was established back in 1991 and for only being a Division I basketball program for six years, this team has took a meteoric jump into the college basketball scene and into America's heart with their passionate, intense, and proud play.