FAU basketball NCAA Tournament projections: Where do bracketology experts rank the Owls?

The Florida Atlantic men's basketball team is looking at a second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. How will they follow up last year's incredible Final Four run?

It's been a very different season for the Owls. Despite coach Dusty May returning a lot of last year's team, including leading scorer Johnell Davis and 7-foot-1 center Vladislav Goldin, FAU has lost twice as many games as they did heading into March Madness last year. That said, they're still a robust 24-7 (14-4 in AAC) and enter conference championship week comfortably in the tournament, according to bracket experts.

Heading into the American Athletic Conference Tournament, FAU is No. 34 in NET ranking and 2-2 in Quad 1 games, the ones that weigh heaviest in March Madness seeding. The Owls' biggest win of the season came in a double-overtime thriller against No. 7 Arizona, but they're not the top seed in the their new conference because of a February road loss to in-state rival USF.

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Looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament, bracketologists are putting FAU around the same No. 9 seed that they were last season. Bracketville has FAU as the No. 9 seed in the East Region and taking on No. 8 Northwestern in the first round. BracketWAG.com places the Owls as the No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region, where they would open against No. 7 Nevada. Bracketologists.com, which seeds teams solely on their NET rankings, has Florida Atlantic as a 9-seed facing 8-seed Nevada.

Here's a look at FAU's tournament résumé as of Tuesday afternoon, plus a look at national experts' March Madness projections:

FAU basketball résumé, NET ranking

NET ranking: 34

KenPom ranking: 37

Quad 1 record: 2-2

Quad 2 record: 8-3

Quad 3 record: 8-0

Quad 4 record: 6-2

ESPN bracketology projection for Florida Atlantic University basketball

ESPN's Joe Lunardi updated his bracket projection Tuesday morning. He has FAU as the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region. The Owls would play Texas in Indianapolis in the first round with No. 1 overall seed Purdue likely waiting in the second round.

CBS Sports bracketology projection for FAU basketball

CBS Sports' Jerry Palm has bracket projects Monday morning. In it, the Owls are the No. 8 seed in the East Region playing TCU in Brooklyn in the first round. No. 1 seed UConn would be their likely second-round opponent.

USA TODAY bracketology projection for FAU basketball

Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith and Eddie Timanus of USA TODAY updated their bracket projections Tuesday. They have FAU as the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region facing Texas in Indianapolis in the first round. They would likely face No. 1 seed Purdue in the second round.

Andy Katz bracketology projection for FAU basketball

Andy Katz of NCAA.com released his final bracket projections Tuesday morning. He has FAU at the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region facing No. 8 Texas in a first-round game with No. 1 seed Purdue likely awaiting the winner.

Sporting News bracketology projection for FAU basketball

Bill Bender of The Sporting News put out his latest bracket projections Tuesday. He slots FAU as a No. 8 seed but doesn't have a full mock bracket. "This scenario assumes the Owls snag an at-large bid," Bender wrote. "Does FAU really want to test the bubble?"

Fox Sports bracketology projection for FAU basketball

Mike DeCourcy of Fox Sports updated his bracket projections Tuesday. He said FAU is a No. 8 seed but doesn't have a full mock bracket.

What's next for FAU basketball?

Florida Atlantic enters the American Athletic Conference tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Owls' first game is 7 p.m. Friday, March 15 after a double-bye. The game will air on ESPNU and can be streamed on fuboTV.

FAU basketball schedule

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: FAU basketball March Madness 2024 bracketology projections