Four Facts About Each Final Four Team

HOLY MOLY my alma mater is in the Final Four.

This has never happened before. Heck, last year was the first time Miami even made the Elite Eight.

And now they’ve been back-to-back Elite Eights with a Final Four to boot.

WILD STUFF.

Of course, this entire Final Four is full of excitement. San Diego State and FAU are also making their first appearances, while UConn has the worst record of the bunch and is the presumptive favorite to win the championship.

In the spirit of college basketball’s premier sporting event, here are four facts about each Final Four school.

San Diego State Aztecs

• The Aztecs have retired just one jersey: Kawhi Leonard’s #15.
• In 1997, the school built a 100 Years, 100 Stones monument to celebrate the university’s 100th birthday. The monument sports a 100-foot circumference and is made from 100 different stones collected from 100 sites, all within 100 miles of the campus. That’s a lot of hundos.
• Need some good luck? Rub the left foot of the statue of Samuel T. Black. He’s a Scottish immigrant who came to San Diego and became SDSU’s first president.
• The all-time school leader in assists is Tony Gwynn with an even 500. You might be more familiar with Gwynn as a 15-time All-Star and 8-time batting champion with the San Diego Padres.

Florida Atlantic Owls

• Florida Atlantic University was built on Boca Raton Army Air Field in 1961, and several World War II-era buildings remain in use today.
• The Owls only began playing basketball in 1988 and moved to Division I in 1993, largely because their baseball team was playing incredibly well.
• When the Owls are winning in the final moments of home games, everyone in the stands takes out their keys to celebrate.
• Prior to this season, the team had won a grand total of zero postseason games. They’re now 4-4 across all postseason tournaments.

Connecticut Huskies

• The Huskies men’s team has reached six Final Fours. When they make the title game, they’re undefeated, with four wins in four tries.
• UConn hosts the largest mud volleyball tournament in the land, called OOzeball.
• The campus has its own ice cream bar and is the only school in the nation with a puppetry major.
• Six women have won an NCAA title, a WNBA title, an Olympic gold medal, and a World Cup gold medal. Four of them — Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Kara Wolters, and Diana Taurasi — went to UConn.

Miami Hurricanes

• The men’s basketball team first started in 1926. Since then, there have been three periods where the hoops team ceased to exist: 1932-38, 1942-45, and 1971-85.
• The school’s color scheme comes courtesy of an orange tree. Green for leaves, white for the blossoms, and orange for the…well, you can probably guess what.
• The alma mater was written on the back of an envelope and an overdue bill.
• Crocodiles routinely hang out by the lake on the University of Miami campus. There was one there when I attended, and he was awesome.

If this Final Four is anything like the rest of the tournament, we’re going to have a grand ol’ time. Enjoy the madness.