Lawmakers have college ties to Final Four teams from Florida

The men’s basketball teams from Florida Atlantic University and the University of Miami constitute half of the Final Four squads this weekend, putting the state of Florida in rare company.

Only two other states have had two teams represented in the NCAA’s Final Four in the last 30 years, and just six all-time.

Although Florida is still clearly a football state, the two squads’ success marks new highs for both programs. This is the farthest either school has ever made it during the March Madness tournament.

It’s the second year in a row that the Hurricanes have made a deep run, reaching the Elite Eight last year, but this is only FAU’s second time playing in the tournament in school history, with its other appearance being 21 years ago.

A few Florida legislators are likely celebrating. State Reps. Lisa Dunkley, Mike Giallombardo and Jervonte Edmonds are FAU alums, while state Sens. Jason Pizzo, Lauren Book and Bryan Avila graduated from Miami.

Giallombardo’s most recent Twitter activity is retweets congratulating his alma mater for making it to the semi final round of the Big Dance.

Sen. Lori Berman has double allegiances: She represents the area where FAU is based but got a master's degree from UM. Berman told City & State she hopes "both teams to make it" to the national championship. 

Debate over which school should be considered Florida’s team has already begun, and there’s likely to be even more excitement in the halls of the state Capitol if the teams make it an all-Sunshine State national championship game.

Neither team is favored to advance, but that hasn’t mattered much in a tourney marked by major upsets.