Guess who has their own bobbleheads with FAU in 2024 NCAA Tournament?
Florida basketball is returning to a familiar city when it starts 2024 NCAA Tournament play on Friday.
The 7-seed Florida Gators (24-11) will play their seventh NCAA Tournament game in Indianapolis, and first at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, when they face Colorado on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
UF has gone 4-2 in its six prior games in the Circle City. The biggest win came on April 3, 2006, when Florida beat UCLA 73-57 in the RCA Dome for its first men’s basketball national championship in school history. Nap Town, as Indianapolis is known, was hopping with UF fans who celebrated deep into the night following the win. Florida also played in the Final Four in Indianapolis in 2000 and appeared in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2021 when the entire event was played in and around Indianapolis due to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Here’s a breakdown of UF’s six NCAA Tournament games in Indy:
April 1, 2000: Florida 71, North Carolina 59
Brett Nelson led three UF scorers in double figures with 13 points and Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem added 10 points apiece, lifting five-seed Florida to a 71-59 win over eight-seed North Carolina at the RCA Dome. Florida played strong defense throughout the game, holding UNC to 35.1 percent shooting while forcing 17 turnovers to advance to it.
The Florida Atlantic Owls have made
No, we’re not talking about making the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. Not even discussing that FAU can make it back to the Final Four and shock college basketball fans again.
We’re talking truly monumental, major news. The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled two Florida Atlantic Owls Bobbleheads Thursday in conjunction with the start of March Madness. Seeded eighth in the East Region, FAU will take on ninth-seeded Northwestern in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Friday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
You might even say this news is a hoot. Yes, the bobbleheads feature Florida Atlantic’s mascots, Hoot and Owlsley, standing on a base with the school’s colors and logo in the background. The officially licensed bobbleheads are being produced by the bobblehead hall and museum, an official licensee of Florida Atlantic.
A few notes on the FAU bobbleheads
The bobbleheads will be available in the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store at this link. (https://store.bobbleheadhall.com/ products/fau)
The bobbleheads, which are scheduled to ship in August, are $35 each plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per
hhthe NCAA finals for the first time in school history.
April 3, 2000: Michigan State 89, Florida 76
Forward Morris Peterson scored 21 points, center A.J. Granger added 19 points and point guard Mateen Cleaves had 18 points and 4 assists, lifting oneseed Michigan State to an 89-76 win over five-seed Florida at the RCA Dome. It remains the last national championship for a Big Ten basketball team and the last national title for Hall of Fame coach Tom order.
Each bobblehead will be individually numbered to 2,024.”We’re excited to unveil these Florida Atlantic Bobblehead in conjunction with March Madness as the Owls are dancing in March again,”
hIzzo, who has led the Spartans to eight Final Fours.
April 1, 2006: Florida 73, George Mason 58
Foward Corey Brewer and guard Lee Humphrey each had 19 points, as 3-seed Florida ended No. 11-seed George Mason’s Cinderella Run with a 73-58 win at the RCA Dome. Florida bombed away from the 3-point line, going 12-for-25 from beyond the arc in the win. Humphrey went 6-for-12 from long distance, Brewer went 3-for-6.
National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “These bobbleheads are the perfect way for Florida Atlantic fans, alumni, students, faculty, and staff to show off their school pride!”
April 3, 2006: Florida 73, UCLA 57
Center Joakim Noah had 16 points. 9 rebounds and 6 blocked shots and forward Al Horford added 16 points and 7 rebounds as 3-seed Florida knocked off 2seed UCLA 73-57 for its first national title. Florida led 36-25 at halftime. By midway through the second half, Noah was blowing kisses to UCLA cheerleaders as the Gators maintained their double-digit lead throughout the game.
March 19, 2021: Florida 75, Virginia Tech 70, OT
Colin Castleton posted a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds and Scottie Lewis added 15 points off the bench, lifting the 7-seed Gators to the overtime win over 10-seed Virginia Tech at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Gators trailed 33-27 at halftime but rallied back to force overtime and won the game in the extra session.
March 22, 2021: Oral Roberts 81, Florida 78
The 7-seed Gators were unable to hold an 11-point second half lead in a loss to 15-seed Oral Roberts.
Power forward Kevin Obanor had his way inside for Oral Roberts with 28 points and 11 rebounds and guard Max Abmas had 26 points.
Point guard Tre Mann had 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists for Florida but failed to score in the game’s final 17 minutes.
Olympics soccer draw: USWNT to face Germany and Australia
PARIS – The United States women’s soccer team will face Germany and Australia at the Paris Olympics when incoming coach Emma Hayes looks to get off to a strong start in the job.
The draws for the men’s and women’s soccer tournaments were held at a ceremony in Saint-Denis on Wednesday.
The record four-time gold-medalist was drawn against fifth-ranked Germany and World Cup semifinalist Australia in Group B.
Those teams will be joined by either Morocco or Zambia.
Hayes takes up her role as U.S. coach in May after finishing the season with Chelsea, where she is challenging for a quadruple of trophies in her final year. She has already won 14 major trophies at Chelsea, including six Women’s Super League titles.
Twila Kilgore is U.S. interim coach until Hayes can join the team. Kilgore recently led the team to the title in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Yamamoto chased after 1st inning of debut as Padres, Dodgers split
SEOUL, South Korea – Yoshinobu Yamamoto was chased after one inning of a nightmarish major league debut and the San Diego Padres outlasted the Dodgers 15-11 on Thursday night after Los Angeles fired Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter following allegations of illegal gambling.
Mookie Betts had four hits and six RBIs for the Dodgers, including the first home run of the major league season.
Jake Cronenworth tied a career high with four hits and had four RBIs for San Diego, which gained a split in the opening two-games series, Major League Baseball’s first games in South Korea. After the Dodgers rebounded from a 9-2 deficit and closed to 12-11, Manny Machado hit a three-run homer in the ninth off J.P. Feyereisen.
San Diego outhit the Dodgers 17-16.
Yankees’ Judge has RBI double in return from abdominal injury
TAMPA, Fla. – Aaron Judge had an RBI double in his first at-bat in Wednesday night’s game against Pittsburgh after sitting out nine days with an abdominal injury, and fellow New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton hit three home runs with eight RBIs in a 12-0 win over the Pirates.
Judge hadn’t played since March 10, when he struck out in both at-bats against Atlanta. He hit a 106.4 mph liner to right center in the first inning that drove in Juan Soto.
Judge scored when Stanton hit a 455-foot homer that cleared the batter’s eye in straightaway center field, the first of his three home runs against lefty Marco Gonzales.
Judge had an eight-pitch walk in the second and Stanton followed with a 453-foot grand slam. Stanton added a solo homer in the fourth, a 426-foot solo drive to center, and a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
— Wire reports