Florida Atlantic basketball vs. Memphis: Who do experts predict to win in NCAA Tournament?
One of the closest games of the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament is the 8-9 matchup between Florida Atlantic and Memphis.
The ninth-seeded Owls (31-3, 18-2 in Conference USA) had a banner season with a 20-game winning streak and a school record for wins to qualify for March Madness for just the second time. Coach Dusty May leads a deep rotation of players led by sophomore guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin, who scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the C-USA championship game.
On the other side is coach Penny Hardaway and the Tigers (26-8, 13-5 in American Athletic Conference), who stunned No. 1 Houston to win the conference tournament Sunday. Memphis' offense is spearheaded by senior guard Kendric Davis, the 12th-leading scorer in the country at 21.5 points per game.
FAU and Memphis tip off at 9:20 p.m. Friday in Columbus, Ohio. The game will air on TNT.
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Who will advance? Here's what the experts are predicting:
Andy Katz, NCAA.com: Memphis
"Memphis beat Houston in the American Athletic Conference title game ... The Owls have had a great season, but I think Memphis is playing well at the right time."
CBS Sports: Memphis
CBS' team of experts was torn. Gary Parrish, Dennis Dodd and Chip Patterson have the Tigers moving on in their brackets, while Kyle Boone and Matt Norlander are going with the Owls.
Iain MacMillan, FanSided: FAU
"Florida Atlantic’s numbers are off the chart. Sure, we have to realize that they play in a relatively weak Conference-USA, but there are plenty of teams in the tournament from far worse conferences with far worse numbers. ... It’s also worth noting that Memphis is 20th in the country in 2-point shot rate, and now they take on an FAU team that’s 11th in the country in opponent 2-point field goal percentage, keeping teams to shooting 44.8% from down low."
FiveThirtyEight: Memphis
FiveThirtyEight's data modeling gives Memphis a 64% chance to beat FAU.
Jason Mnuz, Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis 79-68
"Kendric Davis has been pining for this moment for as long as he can remember. No way he's letting it slip through his fingers."
Larry Rupp, FanDuel: Memphis 80-75
"There's no denying that Florida Atlantic has put together a magical season, but it's important to note that the team's best wins came against Florida and UAB. Both of those squads are playing in the NIT. The Owls haven't played a top-25 team all season and that inexperience will prove costly on Friday.
"Memphis just took down a Houston team that is slated as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and has also beaten Texas A&M, Auburn and VCU. That's four wins against teams in the tournament field."
Kels Dayton and Ross Bentley, Hartford Courant: Memphis
"FAU is deep, dangerous, and has lost only two games since November. They will present an extremely tough matchup for Memphis and could also be a serious threat to play spoiler in the second round as well should they advance. That said, the Tigers are playing just a little bit too well."
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Memphis vs FAU predictions: March Madness men's basketball picks
