Who? The Golden Knights of Central Florida, or UCF for short.
What? Like many schools, UCF picked up their name for exploits on the field. They may have the world's worst penchant for bad puns, given that the current Knight is Knightro and one of his predecessors was Mack the Knight. They have a lovingly detailed history of their symbols and mascots here.
Where? Orlando, Florida. Tari Phillips came home to kick ass here.
When? March 12th, in El Paso, Texas.
Why? Because they won the Conference USA conference tournament.
How? A 9-0 run in the last five minutes of the game put the Golden Knights into the tournament, as they won 85-73 over Tulane.
Surprise? Somewhat. They finished four games behind top-seeded Houston in the regular season, but after Tulane obligingly knocked off Houston, they were the strongest team left, and they're on an eleven-game winning streak.Who's driving this thing, anyway? Joi Williams, since 2007. Categorized as a rebuilder.
RPI: 57
SOS: 77
Record: 22-10 (10-4)
Best win: Richmond (H)
Worst loss: Savannah State (A)
Notable results: James Madison (L, A, OT, 82-78), Florida State (L, A, 69-51)
Junior guard Aisha Patrick's numbers are the ones that stand out to me- third on the team in scoring with 10.7 per game, she leads them with 8.1 rebounds and a smidge over four assists, along with more than two and a half steals. Senior guard D'Nay Daniels leads them with 14.2 points on 50.9% shooting.