Florida Atlantic Basketball: What you should know about cbb’s biggest surprise

Florida Atlantic Basketball is ranked in the AP Poll for the first time in program history. Here is everything you need to know about the Owls.

Florida Atlantic was picked fifth in the preseason Conference USA poll. No one had them projected in the tournament at the start of the season. The Owls are now ranked 24th in AP Poll and in the poll for the first time. While they’ve gotten their props lately, there is still a very large majority of college basketball fans that don’t know much about them other than the success they’ve had.

FAU’s style

Florida Atlantic’s success doesn’t come from talent. They don’t have a unique defensive system. They simply play their game and don’t let the way other teams play deter them. FAU’s offense typically contains four guards and one big between Vladislav Goldin and Giancarlo Rosado. All of their guards are good shooters and capable playmakers as well. Goldin and Rosado will set a ton of ball screens and they’ll also utilize a lot of dribble handoffs. The two actions allow for the guards to operate in a ton of open space. The other perimeter players do a nice job of filling the open spot and Goldin especially does a nice job rolling to the rim off of the ball screen. This system has led to FAU having a top-30 offense in the country this season.

Do they have a star?

The answer might be no, but it also might not matter. Johnell Davis has had some big games, but he plays less than half the game on average and only is scoring around 12 points per game. Alijah Martin has similar minutes and also similar efficiency and scoring to Davis. Overall though, there is no elite scorer for this team. Michael Forrest averages around 10, Nicholas Boyd is around 9 and Bryan Greenlee is at 7.6 There is no “me, me, me” with this team and that’s a huge reason that they’ve had so much success.

Adaptability

One of the key reasons that Florida Atlantic is always a tough out is that they can win in multiple ways. On December 29th, FAU went to North Texas and won a game in which they scored 50 points. They then hosted UAB a week later and beat them scoring 88 points. North Texas ranks dead last in the country in adjusted tempo while UAB ranks 18th.

The Owls rank 204th which is on the slower side, but not by much. Dusty May’s team has shown the ability to adjust the pace of the game based on how other teams are playing. They let the other team play their game, but the Owls usually play it better. There should be a lot of confidence surrounding the Owls’ preparation for any matchup in the NCAA Tournament.

Resumé

While the 17-1 record and being undefeated in conference play speaks for itself, FAU has a very strong case for an at-large bid right now even without being the projected Conference USA Champion. The Owls have taken advantage of the small number of opportunities that they’ve had to improve their resumé as they are 4-1 between quad one and quad two. Their only loss was on the first Friday of the season at Ole Miss.

They have also avoided disaster in the conference and stay unbeaten against quads three and four. After the win against Western Kentucky on the road, it’s possible that Florida Atlantic has already played four of its six toughest conference games. They likely will be able to slip up a couple of times, not including the conference tournament, and still get an at-large bid.

Running the table in C-USA is probably unrealistic. They only have a 4.3% chance of finishing the conference slate undefeated in the league according to KenPom. However, what isn’t unrealistic is winning the regular season and conference tournament title in Conference USA and then also winning an NCAA Tournament game. With the balance that Dusty May’s team has combined with their ability to win in multiple ways, they could be a matchup nightmare.