How far did Florida Gulf Coast go in the 2013 NCAA Tournament? Exploring the Eagles' historic March Madness run

In 2013, the #25 Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles defied all odds to be one of the lowest seeded teams to go deep in March Madness. It was one of the most remarkable Cinderella runs in modern American sports history.

So, let's explore how deep Florida Gulf Coast got while also taking a look at the opposition they faced until their run was cut short.

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How far did Florida Gulf Coast go in the 2013 March Madness?

That 2013 FGCU Eagles team went as far the Sweet Sixteen, heading into the tournament on a two-game winning streak during their stint in the Atlantic Sun Tournament. They earned a berth into the NCAA Tournament after beating A-Sun top seed Mercer in the ASU conference championship game.

As the 15-seed, no one else aside from their hometown fans believed that their March Madness appearance would survive past the 2-seed (and #8-ranked) Georgetown Hoyas.

However, FGCU went on a 21-2 blast to lead Georgetown by as many as 19 points, a handful of these coming from dunks. This Eagles earned their iconic nickname "Dunk City" for their high-flying acrobatics throughout their entire run:

Their game against the Hoyas was also called by the equally iconic Kevin Harlan and Reggie Miller tandem.

Both the legendary announcers were flying out of their seat calling these dunks, with Harlan's "up high and down hard" and "sledgehammer" calls (including Miller's "welcome to your Kodak moment") echoing through the broadcast booth.

Next up on the list was the 7-seed San Diego State Aztecs in the second round. FGCU pulled ahead early with another big 17-0 run in the second half and didn't look back. They won 81-71 and continued to live up to their Dunk City moniker. Before they knew it, they had gone where no other 15-seed had ever been.

However, as quickly as their magical run began, it was all over. In the Sweet Sixteen, they faced the 3-seeded and #14-ranked Florida Gators, a Power Conference team in every sense of the word.

Florida won 62-50, having fended off the Eagles' patented big second-half scoring run. After the game, FGCU forward Chase Fieler said that they finally ran out of gas (via USA Today):

"When they started their run we did not have the energy we had in the other two games. We were not playing with the same fire that we had before."

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2013 FGCU basketball roster

Here's everyone who played on that FGCU Eagles squad:

• G Brett Comer
• F/C Nate Hicks
• G Bernard Thompson
• G Christophe Varidel
• F Eric McKnight
• G Alexander Blessig
• F Filip Cvjeticanin
• F Chase Fieler
• F/C Leonard Livingston Jr.
• F Eddie Murray
• F Marcus Blake
• G Sherwood Brown
• G Dajuan Graf

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Who was the coach of FGCU basketball in 2013?

Andy Enfield was the coach for the 2013 FGCU Eagles, who was a rookie tactician for that season with the school. Known more as a shooting coach, Enfield took over a program that was in its first year of Division I postseason eligibility (via FGCUAthletics.com).

Before coming to the school, he served for five years as an assistant coach with the Florida State Seminoles.

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FGCU March Madness 2013: Top games

During their legendary March Madness 2013 run, the FGCU Eagles' wins over Georgetown and San Diego State were also their two best games.

It was mostly during these contests that Florida Gulf Coast earned their Dunk City nickname,also showing that when they get it going, they were incredibly tough to stop even for the nation's top teams.

• Versus Georgetown: The Eagles battled with the Hoyas for much of the first half before they went on a blistering 21-2 run to lead by as many as 19 points. Georgetown cut it down to four in the final minutes before running out of gas.
• Versus San Diego State: Against the Aztecs, FGCU once again went on an insane second half scoring run to put the game away, bringing it from 54-52 with 10:10 left to 71-52 with just above four minutes remaining. San Diego State couldn't recover from that.