No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson’s win over No. 1 seed Purdue shocked the men’s college basketball world and turned the tournament bracket upside down. It also gave the UMBC Retrievers a friend.
MORE: Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tobin Anderson was brilliant for correctly predicting a Purdue upset
UMBC became the first men’s team to upset a No. 1 seed as a No. 16 seed when the Retrievers knocked off top-seed Virginia in 2018. It’s been a lonely five years and one day for UMBC, but now they have some well-deserved company. Back in 2018, the UMBC Twitter account — @UMBCAthletics — added 100,000 new followers as they gleefully (and respectfully) basked in the glory of making history.
Thursday night, they took to the internet again to celebrate alongside FDU.
WE HAVE A FRIEND NOW
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 18, 2023
They’re already planning a club with Fairleigh Dickinson and Harvard women’s basketball (which upset No. 1 Stanford in 1998).
What should our 16-seed club t-shirts look like? @HarvardWBB @FDUKnightsMBB
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 18, 2023
They leave us with a nice reminder for the evening, though.
Just a friendly reminder that you can celebrate FDU without putting down Purdue. Make it about the win, not the loss. These are college kids playing a game.
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 18, 2023