FGCU Could Actually Be a Dangerous No 16 Seed

The eternal question remains:

Will a No 16 seed ever upset a No 1 in the Big Dance?

The tempting answer remains, too:

Maybe when Syracuse gets a No 1 seed.

Not this year.

Oh, sure, there have been other hiccups by No 2 seeds since then, but the 'Cuse blazed the trail.

However, that's still not the Holy Grail of March Madness: a No 16 pulling off an upset for the ages.

Now, until tomorrow, the unicorns-&-rainbows crowd has its latest champion:

These Eagles aren't exactly Dunk City this time around -- it's more accurate to call them D City -- but posting the largest smackdown in First Four history no doubt got North Carolina's attention.

That would be the same North Carolina that won both the ACC conference and tournament titles.

The Selection Committe did some stupid stuff when filling out the brackets, but naming the Tar Heels as a top seed wasn't one of them.

 

These Eagles are not Dunk City, but they've definitely got their own version of firepower.

They've also got motivation that goes beyond making history and advancing in the tournament. If they did manage to shock the hoops world and USC got by Providence, the Eagles would earn a pairing with the coach who put them on the map.

In this case, a while constitutes three years, and no one could blame him for striking while the big-bucks contract offer was hot.

Upset dreamers have to hope FGCU's vaunted defense can keep the Tar Heels in front of them and then hold their own on the boards like they've done all season. In fact, they'll try to look like Kansas East, since that's where Coach Jim Dooley served as an assistant before being hired to replace Enfield.

The only issue here is the Eagles don't have the Jayhawks' players.