Florida Atlantic Is Cinderella No More After Arizona Upset

The Owls made a surprise run to the Final Four last March. But they won’t sneak up on anybody this season—especially after winning a thriller over the No. 4 Wildcats.

In arguably the game of the season to date, the Florida Atlantic Owls silenced any potential doubt that had remained about whether the Owls’ Final Four last March had been a fluke.

FAU’s thrilling 96–95 double overtime win in Las Vegas over the No. 4 Arizona Wildcats was yet another feather in the cap for the work coach Dusty May has done in Boca Raton. For 50 minutes, the Owls went toe-to-toe with an elite program with legitimate national title aspirations in Arizona, weathering multiple early Arizona runs to pull off yet another signature upset for a program that has quickly become accustomed to such feats. That win, combined with sweeping the ESPN Events Invitational in November and a few other impressive mid-major victories, validates all the positive preseason buzz the Owls received.

It has been notoriously difficult for mid majors to follow up a Cinderella run like the one the Owls accomplished a year ago with similar success the following year. A popular comparison for the Owls in the preseason was when the Loyola Chicago Ramblers that went to the Final Four in 2018. The Ramblers were still a very good Missouri Valley team the following year, but fell short of dancing altogether a year after being one of the last four teams standing. But what if Florida Atlantic is more like the Butler Bulldogs teams under Brad Stevens that went to back-to-back national title games in ‘10 and ‘11? After a performance like Saturday’s, that at least feels possible.

FAU’s Brandon Weatherspoon celebrates the Owls’ 96–95 win over No. 4 Arizona :: Lucas Peltier/AP

What’s so striking when watching the Owls against high-level competition is how rarely they look overmatched talent-wise. Saturday, Johnell Davis was the best player on the floor, delivering a heroic 35 points while playing 49 of the possible 50 minutes. He outdueled Caleb Love, who's had his fair share of March magic, and Kylan Boswell, a potential first-round pick. FAU had seven different players score in double figures in its Final Four run a year ago, and has maintained a similar balance this year. Sometimes it’s Davis, other nights it’s big man Vladislav Goldin or guard Alijah Martin leading the charge.

A résumé-topping win like this one before conference play also could have a major impact on Florida Atlantic’s hopes of a second deep March run. Much of the Big Dance is matchups, but this year’s Owls bunch will have the elite win that last year’s didn’t heading into the tournament. Without Fairleigh Dickinson’s stunning upset of Purdue a year ago, the Owls would have been forced to take on a No. 1 seed just to get out of the first weekend. Those 8-against-9 and 7-against-10 seed matchups are so much harder to escape, and having a win like Arizona (not to mention wins over Texas A&M, Butler and Virginia Tech) in its back pocket could be the difference between FAU getting a favorable spot on the bracket and not.

Expecting another Final Four? That’d be unfair. But if the Owls get back there this season, no one should be surprised. May took on a grueling nonconference schedule precisely to give his team opportunities for big wins like this one. It was obvious from the day that slate came out that we’d know whether the Owls were for real again by Christmas. And after reeling in arguably its best win in program history, the answer is a resounding yes.