Florida Gulf Coast Eagles head coach Andy Enfield addresses the media during practice the day before the second round of the 2013 NCAA tournament at the Wells Fargo Center. (Photo: Howard Smith, USA TODAY Sports) Team of the day: Florida Gulf Coast RELATED: Harvard's win busts brackets UPDATED BRACKET: 2013 field after second-round games Route to the Dance: Automatic bid (Atlantic Sun) Credentials: 24-10 (17-1 Atlantic Sun), conference tournament champions Signature win: So why are the Eagles so scary on paper? That's easy: They beat Miami. Yes, they upended the Hurricanes at home. And they did it while Miami guard Durand Scott was suspended. And it happened before Miami became the monster ACC regular season and tournament champion they are known as now. THE MATCHUP: Georgetown in familiar territory But Florida Gulf Coast beat Miami, and beat it handily (63-51). And that's reason enough to think the Eagles might be able to pull off a 2/15 upset on Friday as well. Team strength: Depth Florida Gulf Coast deploys some stout pieces, but it is definitely a whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-the-parts team. The Eagles regularly use a nine-man rotation, all of whom average at least 13.4 minutes. In many matchups in the tournament, that would constitute a substantial asset. Florida Gulf Coast drew Georgetown, which might not be the ideal foe even though it isn't particularly deep. The Hoyas are accustomed to playing the likes of Nate Lubick, Otto Porter and Markel Starks more than 35 minutes a night in close games and 30 minutes a night in relatively comfortable victories. The Eagles aren't going to wear down the clever Hoyas — unless, of course, they can get Georgetown into foul trouble. Even then, the depth isn't guaranteed to be of as much help as it potentially could be against another team This team will remind you of: 2010 Ohio The Bobcats played plenty of guys, spread the scoring around and hoisted its share of 3-pointers (about 20.5 a game). Florida Gulf Coast plays plenty of guys, spreads the scoring around and hoists its shares of 3-pointers (about 19.7). Oh, and both drew Georgetown at an East Coast site. The 2010 Bobcats got ridiculously hot, hitting 13 of 23 3-pointers, and shot the Hoyas straight out of the tournament in a 3/14 game. A strong perimeter game is probably Florida Gulf Coast's key to have a shot at knocking off Georgetown this season. Team weakness: Turnovers As attractive as Florida Gulf Coast might be as an upset pick, two things are working against it. One, it is probably seeded a line too low. The second, and far more important, is that it averages 14.7 turnovers a game. That's an average built against the likes of Lipscomb and Kennesaw State. It does not bode well for an opportunistic opponent like Georgetown, which is willing to run when the chance presents itself. Names to know: Sherwood Brown (15.3 points per game), Bernard Thompson (14.0) and Chase Fieler (12.2) all average double figures for Florida Gulf Coast. Brown is the only Eagle to average more than 30 minutes a game. Florida Gulf Coast fact: The Eagles are appearing in their first NCAA tournament and in coach Andy Enfield's second season. But more to the point, Florida Gulf Coast's program is in only its 11th season; the school itself didn't begin offering classes until 1997. Cinderella radar: — Albany — California — Harvard — Iona — La Salle — Minnesota — Mississippi — Northwestern State — Oregon — Pacific THE BEST CINDERELLAS IN NCAA TOURNEY HISTORY *** Follow/engage with bracket specialist Patrick Stevens on Twitter@D1scourse. Story Highlights
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Source : http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2013/03/22/cinderella-watch-does-florida-gulf-coast-have-tools-for-an-upset/2009273/