Florida Gulf Coast has taken the glass slipper away from Harvard, with the No. 15 Eagles from the Atlantic Sun conference shocking the NCAA Tournament on Friday night with a decisive victory over No. 2 - and heavily favored - Georgetown.
The Eagles topped the Hoyas 78-68 at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center in South Region action, with Sherwood Brown scoring 24 points and Bernard Thompson adding 23 points in the contest. Florida Gulf Coast was a 14-point underdog on the betting odds at the sportsbooks for that game.
Florida Gulf Coast will next play the winner of Friday night's late game between No. 7 San Diego State and No. 10 Oklahoma on Sunday in Round of 32 action in Philadelphia.
As well, at least one double-digit seed will advance to the Sweet Sixteen at the NCAA Tournament this year, as No. 13 La Salle and No. 12 Mississippi will meet at the Sprint Center on Sunday in West Region betting action.
The Atlantic 10's La Salle beat No. 4 Kansas State at the Sprint Center on Friday afternoon by a score of 63-61 as a 6.5-point underdog at the sportsbooks, while the SEC's Mississippi is coming off a 57-46 win over No. 5 Wisconsin in the Round of 64 in Kansas City.
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The first day of action at the NCAA Tournament saw four lower seeds pick up victories, but it was No. 14 Harvard that provided the biggest upset by knocking out No. 3 New Mexico in Salt Lake City.
The Crimson got 18 points from Wesley Saunders and 17 more from Laurent Rivard in paying off against the Lobos in a 68-62 win at EnergySolutions Arena. That makes Harvard the current Cinderella story of the Big Dance.
Two No. 12 seeds also won on Thursday, with California beating No. 5 UNLV, and Oregon bouncing No. 5 Oklahoma State. Both of those Pac-12 schools advance to the Round of 32 on Saturday along with Midwest No. 9 Wichita State, which beat No. 8 Pittsburgh.
The other dozen winners on Thursday were No. 8 seeds or higher.
Harvard next takes on No. 6 Arizona in West Region betting action on Saturday as they try to keep the glass slipper on their foot; the Crimson opened as 10-point underdogs at 5Dimes for the contest.
Meanwhile, Wichita State meets No. 1 Gonzaga (-6) in another West matchup on Saturday, with California taking on No. 4 Syracuse (-7.5) in the East, and Oregon matching up against No. 4 Saint Louis (-4) in the Midwest.
