The University of Miami and Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball teams are headed to Houston for the NCAA Tournament. NBC 6’s Niko Clemmons reports
The Miami Hurricanes are days away from making history. On Wednesday, the men’s team hit the road as they play in the Final Four this weekend.
Dozens of students and fans were there to send them off outside the Watsco Center on campus.
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NBC6 was at their practice hours before they left. Head coach Jim Larrañaga talked about how teams dream of getting to this point, and for them, it's a reality. He said his message is the same as it was at the start of the tournament.
"Have more fun, I think basketball's a game and you want to enjoy it, you don’t want to put a lot of pressure on yourself,” Larrañaga said.
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The men came from behind to knock off Texas in the Elite 8. Many people say they're defying the odds.
"Don’t pick us, that’s been off our players' slogan since the tournament began,” Larrañaga said. "My players don’t need my motivation. They’re already highly motivated themselves."
"Not a lot of teams comes here so it's a big statement for us,” junior guard Isaiah Wong said. "I feel like it hasn't set in yet, I’m just living in the moment right now, and I feel like in the future, I’ll be like, wow, I really made it."
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Florida Atlantic University is also defying the odds. Their men's team is also playing in Houston this weekend.
"Credit to FAU, they've had a long season of them playing really well and they deserve to get to this Final Four, and putting on for the state of Florida and South Florida, putting a name out there for ourselves,” sophomore guard Benley Joseph said.
Students are also excited about the game.
Kira Johnson and J'Nesse Balkman went to every Miami home game this season. They'll watch from home this weekend but hope to see both South Florida teams in the championship game.
"Being a Florida native, that is really big for me because the whole city will be on fire if that happens, and of course, I'm going to go for UM but South Florida is representing,” Balkman said.
"The energy on campus is just really high. You can definitely feel it everywhere you go,” Johnson said. “School spirit is through the roof. Even people who don't even watch basketball are going crazy over it."
FAU left for Houston Wednesday morning. They play San Diego State Saturday afternoon. Miami will face off against UConn Saturday night.
The championship game will be Monday.
