Jersey is giving March Madness fans another reason not to count out an underdog Fairley Dickinson University's men's basketball team is heading to the big dance now it's an unlikely and remarkable storyline for a team that had just a tough season but it marks the seventh time fdu has qualified for the NCAA men's tournament and it's not the only team from the Garden State to clinch a spot for the first time in 40 years the Monmouth University women's basketball team will also put on their dancing shoes knocking off top-seeded get this Towson University in their championship game clearing the way for a March Madness run Princeton University's men's and women's teams they also punch their ticket to the tournament and the state will be watching last year's Cinderella team St Peter's university didn't make it neither did Seton Hall or Rutgers now fdu has their shot Ted gold Berg caught up with the men's team who says they're ready to take it with Rutgers getting snubbed from this year's NCAA tournament New Jersey has two Cinderella teams hoping to dance their way to the Final Four [Applause] Princeton won the Ivy League conference tournament topping Yale and will face Arizona in the round of 64 Thursday and fairly Dickinson secured a spot as a 16 seed they take on Texas Southern on Wednesday with the winner playing top seeded Purdue all this tourney talk is a nice surprise for a program that won just four games last year I think when you have a year where you're not expected to be very good it ended up being pretty good it makes it even more fun you know so it's been a great ride for us Tobin Anderson is in his first year of coaching the burgundy and blue coming over from division two St Thomas Aquinas College in Upstate New York he brought over some of his old players who weren't exactly expecting to dance this year it was more of uh you know just have a good season you know try to get the program up and running the first year first two years but you know down the line maybe we get to NCAA tournament nobody really thought that you know the first year we would be able to get to this we were trying to build the program back up so it's probably like you know you're thinking a two or three year um rebuilding project we thought okay we can be competitive we have a chance to maybe be a middle-of-pack conference team making the NCAA tournament was not probably something it was a real realistic goal so what's the difference Newark native and fdu Senior Daniel Rodriguez says the new coach brought a new outlook we just came and brought a different approach we play hard every day the way we play on the court is the way we play in practice every day he's very disciplined very demanding coach you know set very high standards for for his players and um you know he's very hard on my players you know for for a reason obviously you know for the success he's had while the knights are ready to dance they've heard from critics who don't think they've earned this shot the knights did not win their conference tournament but clinched a spot by reaching its championship game the conference champ Merrimack isn't eligible for the big dance because they transferred from division two to division one and must sit out their first four years per an NCAA rule everybody says we don't deserve it because you know obviously you know Merrimack didn't you know can't can't go but you know we worked hard for it I ignore you know we all ignore but we see it we worked hard just as everybody else and it could have been the same way for Saint Francis if they would have beaten us we know you know certain teams came out Stone Hill couldn't go Mary Matt couldn't go so let's get ourselves a position to go we think we're we're a heck of a team we think we had a great year so no I'm let me just kind of block that out like what whatever we're moving on the knights need to get past their playing game and then they would come face to face with number one seed Purdue so moving through the tournament would be a surprise but it wouldn't be the most unexpected run in New Jersey school has had Saint Peter shocked the world just last year by making it to the elite eight so what are the chances that fairly Dickinson follows suit we're winning team we feel like we can accomplish something just like that you know they made a huge run to Elite eight so you know obviously we were going to do the same thing you know why not before Saint Peters went on its Miracle run last year the peacocks had never won a tournament game before in school history Fairley Dickinson has the knights won in the big dance just four years ago the last time they were in the tournament as for the possibility of a New Jersey school going on a Cinderella run two years in a row why not in Hackensack I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight News [Music]