FAU Basketball: 3 keys for Final Four matchup vs San Diego State Aztecs

No Fear

Florida Atlantic didn’t get to the Final Four by accident. The Owls didn’t win 35 games by accident. All of you are going to say that they play in a mid-major conference and will be overmatched. The truth is that Conference USA is one of the best mid-major leagues in the country as they currently sit at 17-1 in all postseason tournaments. The Owls are battle tested and have been all year. They rank in the top 50 in both offense and defense overall and they have confidence.

All of that leads into Florida Atlantic playing with no fear. They won’t be scared the bright lights are not going to bother the Owls on their quest of playing for their first National Championship in school history. We have all been watching the tournament long enough to know what happens when a team plays scared. They tighten up, they get tentative, and they start doing things that are very uncharacteristic of what got them there. The Owls have been down a few times in this tournament. In fact, in every game they have played in the tournament, they have come back from a second-half deficit to win the game. All of these players trust themselves and trust the other guys on the floor to do the right thing.

Head coach Dusty May is one of the best coaches in the country, and he is going to have his guys ready to go. I do not expect Florida Atlantic to come out and let this game bother them, I expect them to play free, loose, and confident with no fear of losing just like they have in their previous 4 games. The Owls are not like the other low seeds who have made the final four this team is not a fluke they are great on both ends of the floor and they have gotten to this point by playing their game with no fear of failure. Florida Atlantic isn’t scared and they are not going to be heading into their first Final Four.