By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The state of Florida is known for talented football players. It’s very surprising that two teams from Florida made an improbable run to the Final Four.

The teams in the Final Four are Florida Atlantic, U Conn, Miami and San Diego State. The highest remaining see, U Conn is a four seed.

For the first time since 1970, the Final Four will have three first-time participants. And though Connecticut is gunning for its fifth championship since 1999 (under its third different coach), the Huskies began their run with only one tournament victory since their last title in 2014.

No. 5 Miami (29 – 7) beat No. 2 Texas (29 – 9) 88 – 81 in the Elite Eight. The Hurricanes were down at halftime, 45 – 37. They outscored the Longhorns in the second half, 51 – 36. This is the first Final Four appearance in program history.

Jordan Miller finished with 27 points, going 7 of 7 from the field and 13 of 13 from the foul line, while Wong scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half against the Longhorns, who had been the top remaining seed in a topsy-turvy NCAA Tournament.

“How hard we fought to come back in this game, especially on a stage like this, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Nijel Pack, one of Miami’s newcomers. “I know how much these guys wanted to win this game, especially being here last year and losing the Elite Eight, and now being able to take it to the Final Four is something special.”

The Hurricanes are led by junior guard Isiah Wong, the ACC player of the year.

Miami plays No. 4 U Conn (29 – 8) in the night game Saturday, April 1 at NRG Stadium in Houston.

FAU (35 – 3) plays its home games in cozy 2,900-seat Baldwin Arena, a generously named gym. The Owls nickname is derived from their Boca Raton, Fla. campus being designated a burrowing owl sanctuary in 1971.

In the first round against Memphis, there was a tied-up ball after the Tigers were denied a timeout, which led to a floater by Nick Boyd with 2.5 seconds left that gave the Owls a 1-point victory. They then rallied late to beat Fairleigh Dickinson, Tennessee and Kansas State.

No. 9 Florida Atlantic beat No. 3 Kansas State (26 – 10) 79 – 76 to advance to their first Final Four. Alijah Martin set the tone early in the game with a hard one-handed dunk. This game was played at Madison Square Garden.

“They’re going to label us whatever, but we’re some pit bulls and Rottweilers,” Martin said.

This is Florida Atlantic’s second NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2002. They are the first No. 9 seed to advance to the Final Four since Wichita State in 2013.

“I expect the prognosticators to pick us fifth in the Final Four,” fifth-year FAU coach Dusty May said.

The Owls play No. 5 San Diego State (31 – 6) in the first game of the Final Four. I think this will be a close game so I’m not sure who to pick. I do believe the U Conn Huskies will win the national championship though.