By Jeff Borzello
(Source ESPN Staff Writer):
NEW YORK — The 2023 Final Four is poised to be the land of the unknown. UConn is the only team still standing with a national championship to its name. Neither Creighton nor San Diego State has ever been to a Final Four. Prior to last Friday, Florida Atlantic had never even won an NCAA tournament game as a program. Mark Few and Jim Larranaga have been to Final Fours, but Greg McDermott is the only other Elite Eight coach who had advanced out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament prior to this season.
If someone other than UConn cuts down the nets, three of the past four national champions will have been first-time winners.
Parity has hit college basketball in a major way, with the advent of the transfer portal and the extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic among the reasons.
So in a season and tournament filled with parity, how unlikely was it that FAU — the team with the most wins in college basketball this season — would make a Final Four run? Only six teams seeded lower than the Owls have ever played in a national semifinal, so they’re in pretty rare company. FAU defeated No. 3 seed Kansas State 79-76 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Here are the 10 unlikeliest Final Four runs since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985. (One quick note: 1985 Villanova was the unlikeliest national champion, but this isn’t the unlikeliest NCAA tournament runs, it’s the unlikeliest Final Four r
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