From historic Final Four runs to playoff upsets, here’s a look at South Florida’s April
Elite Eights, Final Fours and first-round playoff upsets?
South Florida teams excelled in April.
Here’s a look back at the month that was:
Historic runs
The Miami Hurricanes men’s college basketball team went where it never gone before: the Final Four. Head coach Jim Larranaga guided the Canes to the Elite Eight for a second straight season, but they went one further this year.
As underdogs, they knocked off the Midwest region’s top seed, Houston, in the Sweet 16 before upending the region’s No. 2 seed, Texas, to advance to the program’s first Final Four.
The Canes road ended there, running into eventual champions UConn, but history was made.
And history was also made when Florida Atlantic reached the Final Four. The Owls lost at the buzzer to San Diego State, denying the area from at least one national championship game berth. But FAU’s run captivated a national audience.
While not reaching the Final Four, UM’s women’s team had a successful run in the women’s tournament. The Canes made it to the Elite Eight as a No. 9 seed in the Greenville Regional. And like the men’s team, they succumbed to the tourney’s eventual champions, LSU.
Playoff upsets
Unless you are a fan or member of the Miami Heat and Florida Panthers, there wasn’t much belief to get through their respective first-round playoff series.
For the Heat, it meant going against the Eastern Conference’s top team, the Milwaukee Bucks.
For the Panthers, it meant going against the Boston Bruins, who had the best regular season in NHL history with 65 wins and 135 points.
Daunting? Yes.
Impossible? No.
The Heat dismantled the Bucks in five games with star Jimmy Butler leading the scoring in every game, including a 56-point outburst on 19 of 28 shooting in Game 4.
Meanwhile, the Panthers overcame a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Bruins with a Game 7 overtime winner.
Left winger Matthew Tkachuk had 11 points, including five goals, in the seven-game series to get his name among the early favorites for the Conn Smythe Trophy, which is for the NHL’s playoff MVP.
Diamond moves
Outside of the 2020 shortened season due to COVID-19, the Miami Marlins haven’t had a winning season since 2009. But this past month gave the Marlins a winning April in back-to-back seasons and for the fifth time since 2009.
A four-game winning streak to close out April propelled the Fish to a 16-13 opening month mark and saw an increase in attendance in their final April home game. Sunday’s crowd drew more than 20,000 fans, which was the highest for a home game since Opening Day, which drew more than 31,000.
In comparison, other Sunday home games in April saw more than 15,300 fans on April 16 against the Diamondbacks and more than 18,300 fans on April 2 against the Mets.
