With Heat, Panthers, Canes and Owls, South Florida is running
Might 22, 2023, 09:30 AM ET Today, South Florida is the axis on which the sports world turns.Top stories of
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In both basketball and hockey, squads from the Miami area and beyond have actually been punching well above their weight. Upsets are the rule rather than the exception, Cinderella runs go way previous midnight, and in basic no group with a (1) next to its name wants to play anyone from a South Florida team right now.Here’s a peek back at the improbable run of Florida dominance.Men’s NCAA competition: Miami and Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic had an NCAA tournament run for the ages. Al Bello/Getty Images The Miami Hurricanes and Florida Atlantic Owls were fifth and ninth seeds, respectively, entering into the NCAA tournament. They certainly didn’t play like it. Miami knocked off the 4-seed Indiana Hoosiers, 1-seed Houston Cougars and 2-seed Texas Longhorns to make their very first Final Four in tournament history. Meanwhile, the Owls beat the 8-seed Memphis Tigers, stopped the 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson Knights and beat the 4-seed Tennessee Volunteers and 3-seed Kansas State Wildcats, ending up being only the second ever 9-seed to make the Final Four. While both lost in the Final Four, FAU came achingly close to distressing the 5-seed San Diego State Aztecs and continuing their unlikely run.Women’s NCAA competition: Miami The Hurricanes knocked off the Hoosiers in an enormous upset. Photo by Jeffrey Brown/Icon Sportswire
Another huge run for the Miami Hurricanes. Miami beat the 8-seed Oklahoma State Cowgirls, 1-seed Indiana Hoosiers and 4-seed Villanova Wildcats, losing only to the eventual champ LSU Tigers in the Elite 8.
The Panthers crafted an enormous upset of the Bruins … and they’re not done yet. Michael Dwyer/AP Image The Boston Bruins had one of the greatest regular seasons in NHL history, setting records for wins (65) and points (135) on their method to a first-round match versus the Florida Panthers, who had 42 wins and only 92 points– decent for sure, but nowhere near historical. When the Bruins took a 3-1 lead in the series, it appeared like things were over for the Panthers … however they roared back, winning three games in a row and stunning the Bruins. Then they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in 5 games, and now they are up 2-0 on the Carolina Hurricanes. 2 more wins and they make the Stanley Cup Final. Playoff Jimmy Butler has the Heat near to the NBA Finals. Issac Baldizon/NBA/Getty Images Though Miami’s playoff run began inauspiciously with a loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in, the Heat beat the Chicago Bulls to advance to the next round against the 1-seed Milwaukee Bucks … whom they without delay dispatched in five games, consisting of a 56-point outburst by Butler in Game 4. They beat the New York Knicks in six games to take on versus the Boston Celtics, and they’re dominating that series. In case anybody doubted the legend of playoff Jimmy Butler, well, it looks like he’s absolutely genuine. Brooks Koepka continued the South Florida quality with his fifth major win. Maddie Meyer/PGA of America through Getty Images
He’s not a team, per se, however Koepka is a West Palm Beach native. He hadn’t won a major tournament since 2019 and was ranked 44th going into the 2023 PGA Championship, which he then won Sunday by 2 strokes. The year of South Florida continues unabated.