NCAA Basketball: Buy or sell WTE consensus top-10 teams for 2023-24 season?

8. Florida Atlantic Owls – Sell

There was no bigger surprise than the Owls this past season. Going from a projected middle-of-the-pack team in Conference USA to easily winning the league and getting a program-record 35 wins overall was highly impressive. And following that up with a Final Four apperance and seconds away from the national title game was even better.

In the transfer portal era, there was a legit chance that some of the players, such as leading scorers, Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin, could’ve gone to bigger programs. But they said no and once they officially came back from the NBA Draft process, that meant just about the entire roster was back for another year.

That includes starters Vladislav Goldin, Nick Boyd, and Bryan Greenlee. There’s a ton of depth on this roster and they’re good on both ends. So why would I “sell” a team that brings back so much from the 35-win roster? Partially because of the fluky nature. The Owls were in a position to lose to the Memphis Tigers in the Round of 64 and with respect to the voters that have them so high, I doubt we’re viewing FAU as a top-10 team next season.

Plus, there’s also the factor of Florida Atlantic moving to the AAC, an upgrade in competition over CUSA from top to bottom. That’s not to say that I don’t think highly of Coach Dusty May and the Owls. But rather that I don’t think they’re a definite Final Four team, which a top-8 ranking would suggest.