The Florida Atlantic Owls and Northwestern Wildcats will face off in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Basketball Tournament. FAU enters March Madness with the bulk of their production from last year’s Final Four team back. Northwestern is a 9-seed out of the Big Ten, but has lost three of their last four games and are suffering from injury issues. Both of these teams have the ability to play well above their seed line, so let’s analyze this matchup and make an FAU vs Northwestern prediction.
Below, we will preview this NCAA Tournament college basketball game, providing trends, statistics, and analysis of both teams. Which school will win and keep their hopes of winning the championship trophy alive?
FAU vs Northwestern Prediction and March Madness Expert Picks
2024 NCAA Tournament
No. 8 Florida Atlantic Owls (25-8) vs. No. 9 Northwestern Wildcats (21-11)
Date: Friday, March 22, 2024
Time: 12:15 PM EST
Venue: Barclays Center — Brooklyn, NY
Coverage: CBS
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FAU vs Northwestern March Madness Odds
All college basketball betting odds for FAU vs Northwestern can be found at BetUS Sportsbook.
Moneyline: FAU: (-145) | NW: (+125)
Point Spread: FAU: -2.5 (-110) | NW: +2.5 (-110)
Total: Over: 141.5 (-110) | Under: 141.5 (-110)
KenPom Rankings | Bracketology
KenPom Rankings are from KenPom.com
| Team | Rk | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT |
| Florida Atlantic | 41 | 119 (16) | 102.7 (109) | 68.1 (138) |
| Northwestern | 46 | 116.7 (30) | 100.8 (120) | 63.7 (342) |
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FAU vs Northwestern College Basketball Trends
- Florida Atlantic is 10-3 in non-conference college basketball games this season.
- Northwestern is 9-2 in non-conference college basketball games this season.
- FAU is 9-4 against the spread in non-conference games.
- The UNDER is 4-7 in Northwestern’s 11 non-conference games.
- FAU made the Final Four last season.
- For the first time in program history, Northwestern has made the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons.
FAU vs Northwestern Prediction | March Madness Expert Picks
Following a historic Final Four run last season, FAU began the season ranked 10th in the AP Poll. Although they didn’t live up to the lofty expectations set by some, the Owls find themselves right back in an 8-9 matchup. They are led by Johnell Davis, a physical guard who averages over 18 points and six rebounds.
On the other side, Chris Collins has Northwestern in the Big Dance in back-to-back years; the first time that’s happened in school history. The Wildcats are led by Boo Buie, who averages 19.2 points and is lethal from any area on the court. They will need to get center Matthew Nicholson back from injury soon, as the Cats have already lost guard Ty Berry for the season due to a knee injury.
This is a really fun first-round matchup because these two teams are quite similar. Both have shown the ability to beat the best teams in the sport: FAU beat Arizona and Northwestern knocked off Purdue. On the flip side, both have some very ugly losses: FAU dropped games to Bryant and Florida Gulf Coast and Northwestern took a home loss to Chicago State. They also both rely heavily on their volume shooters, Davis and Buie. This game will likely come down to which of those two can drag their team to the finish line quicker.
Since both teams are fairly close, I will make my prediction based on one external factor. Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May could very well be on his way out. He’s been rumored to take the Louisville job, but will likely take a step up somewhere during this upcoming coaching carousel. With that being said, I could see Northwestern as the more locked-in and engaged team heading into the NCAA Tournament. For our FAU vs Northwestern prediction, we are picking the Northwestern Wildcats to win and move on in the NCAA Tournament.
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