The 2023 NCAA Tournament gave college basketball fans the tournament many have been asking for: complete and utter chaos. Only two top seeds made it to the Sweet 16 and none made it to the Elite Eight. With all the upsets, the main storyline revolved around the relatively unknown ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic basketball team. They made it all the way to the Final Four before falling to fifth-seeded San Diego State on a Lamont Butler buzzer-beater.
This year, FAU basketball came into the season ranked 10th in the country. At the halfway point of the season, it’s time to come to grips with the fact that Florida Atlantic basketball has no business being ranked.
Florida Atlantic Basketball Rode Luck to Success
The reason FAU came into last year’s tournament as an unknown team is that they were a “nobody.” They came into the 2022-23 season unranked and, while they only lost three times all year, they came at the hands of unranked Ole Miss, UAB and Middle Tennessee. The Owls didn’t even play a single ranked team the entire season.
Thanks to their Conference USA Tournament win (with wins over Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee by three, and UAB), they received a bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the very first round, FAU was on the brink of elimination before an extremely questionable no-call from the officials gave FAU basketball a chance, which they took in a 66-65 win over No. 24 Memphis.
After being gifted the win thanks to a free possession from the officials, they caught another break. No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson upset top-seeded Purdue after winning their First Four play-in game. FAU stumbled to an eight-point win before facing No. 20 Tennessee in the Sweet 16. To be fair to the Owls, they were the better team, beating Tennessee by seven to go to the Elite Eight. In the Elite Eight, they faced off against No. 15 Kansas State, who they outlasted by three. FAU committed 22 turnovers, but Kansas State’s troubles at the free throw line (12/18) gifted them another win.
For those keeping track, FAU beat Memphis thanks to a missed call, beat a 16-seed, No. 20 Tennessee, and barely scraped by No. 15 Kansas State to reach the Final Four. There, they fell to No. 18 San Diego State. Naturally, because of their incredible luck, and two wins against teams in the top 20, voters felt the need to put this team at No. 10 coming into this season.
Same Story For FAU in 2024
At this point of the season, Florida Atlantic has exactly one college basketball win against a ranked opponent, with a 96-95 win over No. 8 Arizona. While that win is impressive, so are their losses to unranked Bryant by nine, Florida Gulf Coast by four and Charlotte by two. Be honest, how many of you even knew Charlotte had a basketball team before I just mentioned them?
Full transparency, I have nothing against Florida Atlantic. Guard Johnell Davis is one of the best scorers in the country, and the team is one of the best mid-majors in college basketball. At the end of the day though, that’s all they are — a really good mid-major team. They aren’t good enough to be ranked, and continuing to give them such undeserved praise for one lucky four-game run is incredibly unfair to them.
Who even knows, maybe when we finally judge them fairly, they will feel less pressure and shock the world. Until then, it’s time to call them what they are: another flash in the pan that is nothing more than a cool story.
