Bracketology 2023: 5 conferences with teams that can bust your bracket
![Florida Atlantic Owls guard Alijah Martin (15) does the Gator Chomp after in the second half after defeating the Gators. The Florida Gators menÕs basketball team hosted the Florida Atlantic Owls at Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Monday, November 14, 2022. Florida Atlantic defeated Florida 76-74. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]Gai Ufbasketballfau](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape%2Fcover%2Fsport%2F93c246987712840be555b192871cc8313e82565e9149eb9239d56032b35c1134.jpg "Florida Atlantic Owls guard Alijah Martin (15) does the Gator Chomp after in the second half after defeating the Gators. The Florida Gators menÕs basketball team hosted the Florida Atlantic Owls at Billy Donovan Court at Exactech Arena in Gainesville, FL on Monday, November 14, 2022. Florida Atlantic defeated Florida 76-74. [Doug Engle/Gainesville Sun]Gai Ufbasketballfau")
Conference USA – Florida Atlantic Owls and UAB Blazers
Before the season started it was thought that Conference USA might be one of the stronger mid-major conferences at the top in the country, and perhaps if things turned out right could be a multi-bid league. That possibility still exists, but only if top-seeded Florida Atlantic is knocked off in the title game. While the strength of the conference was there in the preseason with three teams receiving first-place votes, it has been Dusty May’s Owls that have been the surprise. Picked to finish fifth, they enter the title game having only lost three games all season and have gone 29-2 since losing to Ole Miss in the second game of the season.
That success garnered them their first-ever national ranking and a resume that will likely (and should) see them dancing with or without a conference tournament title. The Owls have a 5-3 record over the first two quads and a metric average of 34.4 entering the title game. What has made the Owls successful is that they have been equally efficient on both ends of the floor. They are 31st and 41st in offensive and defensive efficiency respectively. The same can be said about their effective field goal percentage which is 20th on offense and 21st on defense, and their two-point percentages are both in the top 35.
They say it’s tough to beat a team three times in a season, and for North Texas that turned out to be the case as the UAB Blazers knocked them off to reach the Conference USA title game. The reason the conference was thought of as a possible multi-bid league before the season started is because of the roster Andy Kennedy had returning from a team that won the conference title last season and earned a No. 12 seed to the NCAA Tournament, including star Jordan “Jelly” Walker.
The Blazers enter the title game at 25-8 and Walker has taken over to get them to within one game of back-to-back tourney bids by averaging over 33 points in the team’s last three. The Blazers shoot the three-ball well at 37% and are one of the best offensive-rebounding teams in the country, averaging 12.7 per game. Whatever happens on Saturday in the title game, the winner and even the loser are going to be a dangerous proposition in the week to come.