Cinderella Story Comes to an End

After becoming the first 15th seed to reach the Sweet 16 in NCAA tournament history, Florida Gulf Coast University lost to in-state rival Florida 62-50

Florida Gulf Coast University's Cinderella run ended the way most bad dates do: with anger, frustration, self-loathing and and a vow to never speak of this night again.

The Eagles jumped out to a 15-4 lead after a few trademark alley-oops and exciting fast break scores. But then Florida realized that they were a 3 seed that had gone to the Elite 8 the past two years and were facing a 15 seed. In light of this realization, Florida unfurled a 23-2 run and led 30-26 at halftime with FGCU already looking worn out.

The Eagles had as many turnovers (20) as field goals in the game. So even though they ended up shooting a higher percentage than the Gators, there wasn't enough opportunities to score. The philosophy of "lets throw a lob towards the basket every other possession and see what happens" turned out to fail against the more athletic and strong Florida team. The key moment came when Mike Rosario passed the inbound off of his defender on the sideline and took it all the way to the rim for a dunk with about two minutes left. A very fitting exclamation point to an overall sloppy and forgettable game for the Eagles.

But don't let this last game, as bad as it was, be the take away of the 2013 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. They were the first 15th seed in history to go as far as they did, and they still kept up with powerhouse Florida in their loss. If asked what FGCU was before the season started, most people would say it was some DIII school or even an online type of college. But they brought their fun, cocky personalities to the big dance and outshined the likes of San Diego State and Georgetown. This team in the reason that the NCAA tournament is so much fun to watch every year.