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ESTERO — A five-minute walk from his Florida Gulf Coast University apartment, sophomore Kevin Caruso sat on a couch in The Commons with a green-and-blue pompom in his hand.

He stared out at a 60-inch flat-screen, surrounded by 40 or so fellow students, as FGCU’s women’s basketball players ran and shot on a court 1,700 miles away, their every move projected on the TV at the front of the room.

Clearly, Caruso hoped that the Eagles, who were playing Southern Connecticut State in the Division II NCAA championship game, would put the finishing touches on their magical, unbeaten run; however, he knew a loss wouldn’t ruin his night.

“I’ll be a little disappointed,” Caruso said, “but they have made it this far.”

Unfortunately, the Eagles fell to the Owls, 61-45, in the title game in Kearney, Neb.

Indeed, Caruso never imagined watching an FGCU sporting event on ESPN2, as he and the others did Saturday night at The Commons, a meeting place for the more than 1,700 students who live on campus.

After all, FGCU is only five years removed from its first basketball practice. Now, the school prepares for the jump to Division I next year.

“Aaaa-ir ball! Aaaa-ir ball!” others broke out, after an Owl missed everything on a long-range jump shot.

But there they were — Kate Schrader & Co. — on the big screen, the same TV used by several students to watch the Super Bowl last month.

“Not cool!” Caruso screamed, after watching a Southern Connecticut State player score on a layup early in the first half.

The students munched on potato chips and guzzled orange soda as they watched the game. They poked fun at commercials. They would have flipped the channels during timeouts, but someone said it was a violation of The Commons superstitions.

“We haven’t flipped the station yet,” answered one of them, when a friend asked for the remote, “and they’ve won both (Elite Eight) games.”

There were no such problems about three miles south of campus, where an estimated crowd of 150 customers jammed into the Beef O’Brady’s to watch FGCU — or, if they preferred, various other sporting events.

For the most part, though, the people watched FGCU. Of the 22 televisions in the popular, sports-themed restaurant, 15 showed the Eagles. On the patio out back, another two were set up specifically for Saturday’s game.

Kirt Gallatin, the FGCU student body president, arrived early and reserved a table with some friends, just as the group had planned. Gallatin has been promoting the Beef’s viewing for days, namely with Facebook postings.

“I invited 900 people,” Gallatin said, laughing. “Last I checked, I had 81 confirmations.”

Gallatin, who will graduate this spring, has been an FGCU student for four years. Asked where the last couple of weeks would rank in terms of significance to the student body, the 22-year-old said it would be somewhere in the top three.

He’d get no argument from Mike “Spanky” Strukel, who essentially became an FGCU fan last week. He is a regular at the bar at Beef’s, where he likes to sip draft beer while watching his favorite sporting events.

He usually drops by after work, as he did Wednesday night. Soon enough, Strukel found himself rooting for the Eagles.

“I thought it was surreal,” Strukel said, back at the bar Saturday for the championship game. “It’s got to be great for the kids around here.”