Team you couldn’t pick out of a lineup months ago is in Sweet 16. Who are these FAU Owls?

NEW YORK — Take the 68 teams in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament: How many are having the best year in program history?

To make it easier, narrow that question down to the four teams in the Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden.

Reaching this point is expected and unsurprising territory for No. 7 Michigan State. No. 4 Tennessee’s been here before under coach Rick Barnes. Even No. 3 Kansas State is back on familiar ground five years after the program’s most recent Elite Eight berth, though it’s been decades since the Wildcats reached the Final Four.

Then there’s No. 9 Florida Atlantic.

Despite tying No. 1 Houston for the Division I lead with 33 wins, a team no one could have picked out of a lineup months ago is only barely more recognizable today after getting past No. 8 Memphis and No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson to reach the Sweet 16.

As FAU prepares for Thursday’s matchup against Tennessee and looks to add another footnote to a historic season, the biggest questions at MSG are: Just what are the Owls about, and how far can they go?

Florida Atlantic guard Brandon Weatherspoon celebrates a three-pointer during the Owls’ second-round game against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Why this is best season in FAU basketball history

There’s never been a year like this for FAU — the 2022-23 season dwarfs anything the Owls have achieved before as the program prepares to leave Conference USA this summer for the American Athletic Conference.

The 33 wins are a more than 50% increase over the Owls’ next-best season. FAU went 21-11 in 2010-11, the program’s only other season with more than 19 wins since joining Division I in 1993.

This is just the 10th winning season during this 30-year span. Half of these have come under coach Dusty May, who has posted a winning record in each of his five seasons.

The Owls’ 18 conference wins equals the program’s best two-year win total since joining Conference USA in 2013. FAU went 11-7 in league play last season and 7-5 during the abbreviated,…


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Author : USA TODAY Sports

Publish date : 2023-03-22 20:22:51

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