The basketball blue bloods from Louisville, Kansas and Indiana made it through.

So did the iron men from La Salle.

Then there's Florida Gulf Coast, a school hardly anyone had heard of just a few days ago.

Improbably, they're still playing, too - a tongue-wagging, heel-clicking, arm-flapping collection of no-names who turned the opening week of the NCAA tournament into their coming-out party.

It was impressive enough being the first No 15 seed to advance to the round of 16. But the Eagles really grabbed everyone's attention with their running, dunking style and the unbridled joy they showed on the court. In a way, they were like the Harlem Globetrotters, charming the crowds while a pair of supposedly superior teams took on the role of the Washington Generals.

First, second-seeded Georgetown went down by 10 points. Then, seventh-seeded San Diego State fell by the same margin.

"We're doing something special out here," said Sherwood Brown, who likes to stick out his tongue after every big shot. "We've been told that this is what college basketball is all about."

Now, Florida Gulf Coast (26-10) is off to Cowboys Stadium in suburban Dallas for the South Regional semifinals. And, in a most interesting twist, they'll face the flagship team from the Sunshine State, the No 3-seeded Florida Gators (28-7).

"We're really blessed and we're really happy to be here right now," Brown said. "But we've still got a lot more games to play, hopefully, so we're going to go back home and get our heads back straight and get ready to play against the University of Florida."

(China Daily 03/26/2013 page23)