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Never to early to talk a little men's hoops is it? Afterall, Midnight Madness is right around the corner once again…

Confidence appears high in Florida Atlantic heading into the new season, as the Owls are once again lining the pages of early forecasts as the top dog. This time they are taking the favorite honors in both the Athlon and Sporting News 2011-12 pre-season guides, which recently hit the racks of local bookstores.

"It has been and continues to be a work in progress. Anytime you're at a school that has no history or tradition and you're trying to build a championship program, it takes time", said Head Coach Mike Jarvis.

What would help in that time-line would be a contract renewal for Senior, but we'll shelf that for now since the Administration obviously doesn't think it carries any weight at the moment. Otherwise, they would have already taken care of it.

Anyway, happen to pick both up publications tonight, and our very own Ray Taylor is the feature league photo in each - nice!

Without further ado, here's how they stacked the Sun Belt early on:

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Obviously this is all speculative, since not a single game has been played…nonetheless, it's still nice to see the respect being garnered while setting expectation levels accordingly for the season ahead.

Funny we have been talking about a new football coach we must have forgot we need to take care of our current basketball coach...Lets live up to the hype this is a really talented team

Oh I haven't forgotten…Angelos better find a way to keep Jarvis at FAU.  I dont care what it takes.

Definitely looking forward to basketball season!

GO OWLS!

Book your airline tickets, we're making the NCAA tournament this season.

Hopefully we see more people at FAU Arena this season.  This team deserves all the support they can get.  Circle November 19th on your calendars as George Mason comes to town.  FAU Arena will be rocking.

Just saw this preview out from Blue Ribbon…definitely the highest overall marks the Owls ever received from them:

BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS

BACKCOURT: A+
BENCH/DEPTH: B+
FRONTCOURT: B-
INTANGIBLES: A


"FAU will be battle-tested when league play begins. A stringent non-conference schedule includes visits to Kansas, Mississippi State, Miami and USF, and a home game with George Mason. Three of the first four conference games are on the road at Louisiana, Arkansas State and UALR.

Regardless of opposition, there won't be many teams that can dictate pace against the Owls. If FAU doesn't develop post depth, it might be tempting to implement a lot of 1-4 lineups like Bruce Pearl employed while pressing and playing 6-4 power forwards during his first couple of years at Tennessee.

Florida Atlantic has the type of veteran backcourt that often marches into Madness, especially with a dean on the bench like Jarvis."

Much more to preview which is worth the read Here.

I hope our front court proves this and me wrong.  C. White has no excuse not to be a 18/10 type guy this year.

BeastOwl said

Hopefully we see more people at FAU Arena this season.  This team deserves all the support they can get.  Circle November 19th on your calendars as George Mason comes to town.  FAU Arena will be rocking.

I have had GA season tickets for the last few years but I am switching to assigned seating lower section because getting a decent seat up top was becoming an issue.  I believe  by the end of this year you won't be able to get in the burrow.

Rick said

A stringent non-conference schedule includes visits to Mississippi State

Just came across this from ESPN

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State spokesman says Kristers Zeidaks has been ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the entire upcoming season and the first 11 games of the 2012-13 season.

MSU's Gregg Ellis made the announcement Thursday.

Would this benefit us? Do we play them within this time frame?
The 6-foot-8, 230-pound Zeidaks played with and against professional players in his home country of Latvia. He averaged 13.7 points and 6.2 rebounds in the Under-20 European Championships last year.

Zeidaks' lengthy suspension surprised Mississippi State officials, who didn't expect such a harsh ruling. The suspension is two games longer than the one given current MSU forward Renardo Sidney, who sat out the 2009-10 season and the first nine games of the 2010-11 season after the NCAA ruled he received improper benefits.

MSU opens on Nov. 7 at home against Eastern Kentucky.