Bracketology 2023: Complete Bubble Watch before final weekend of regular season

Florida Atlantic: 27-3 (17-2 in CUSA) NET: 15

With the conference slates that teams in leagues like the Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC play, it’s a minor miracle to see a team from Conference USA in this impressive position. Florida Atlantic has had a phenomenal season, dating back to a road win at Florida just a week into the season. From there, the Owls began a 20-game winning streak that has put them in a surprisingly good place with the Tournament just over a week away.

The Owls have a pair of Quad 1 wins, also getting a nice performance on the road against North Texas, one of the teams that’s just outside consideration for the bubble. What’s more important is that they’ve avoided taking the bad loss. Their defeats have come on the road against Ole Miss, UAB, and Middle Tennessee, and while a couple of those could’ve been avoidable, there’s no denying that Florida Atlantic has taken care of business for the most part.

Losing their regular season finale at Louisiana Tech would not be great, but Florida Atlantic is firmly in the NCAA Tournament right now. We don’t know what their NET would look like with a loss Saturday and a rough showing in the conference tournament, but it’s more likely that they can at least win a game or two against their conference foes. That being said, this squad has played such great ball for much of the year that they might not have to wait to see if the Selection Committee puts them in the field.