Final Four Preview: Florida Atlantic Owls vs. San Diego State Aztecs
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 31: Isaiah Gaines #5 of the Florida Atlantic Owls practices ahead of the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal games at NRG Stadium on March 31, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(5) San Diego State Aztecs
NCAA Tournament Path: First round – Def. No. 12 Charleston 63-57; Second round – Def. No. 13 Furman 72-52; Sweet 16 – Def. No. 1 Alabama 71-64; Elite Eight – Def. No. 6 Creighton 57-56 to win South Regional.
Back in 2020, the Aztecs had a good squad going into the tournament. They would’ve likely been a No. 2 seed going in. They had a record of 30-2 and were ranked in to top-15 in offense and defense.
Making their first Final Four appearance this team should feel confident to take the national championship as long as they can play their game. No one plays at a slower pace than the Aztecs and they have the most division one experience on the team according to Kenpom.com.
The Aztecs don’t have a big-time star player but there are a few on this team that can shoulder the load. Darrion Trammell had a game-high 21 points against Alabama and hit the game-winning free throw against Creighton to lead the Aztecs here. A 5’10 guard that plays more like he is 6’4.
Not only is he one of the best on offense but he is arguably their best perimeter defender. Lamont Butler had a good game against Creighton with 18 points and will need to replicate that against FAU. Another guard that needs to show up is season-scoring leader Matt Bradley. On the season he averaged 12.5 points per game but against Alabama only six points and only two against Creighton. If all can score they will be a hard team to deal with.
Shot-making is a weakness for this team and the reason why their scores are low. When their shots are not falling they crash the offensive boards well. It will be hard to do with FAU because of the big man in the middle Vladislav Goldin who had 14 points and 13 rebounds in their elite eight games.
On the defensive side, they are the best in the Final Four. They are No. 4 when it comes to adjusted efficiency rating on the defensive side of the ball.
Since the Mountain West tournament, they have held their opponents to 56.6 points per game. They are ranked second in 3-point defense holding the teams they faced in the tournament to 17% (16-94). In the second weekend, they held Alabama and Creighton to five made threes. This is the type of defense they will need to beat FAU.
(9) Florida Atlantic Owls
NCAA Tournament Path: First round – Def. No. 8 Memphis 66-65; Second round – Def. No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson 78-70; Sweet 16 – Def. No. 4 Tennessee 62-55; Elite Eight – Def. No. 3 Kansas State 79-76 to win East Regional.
FAU is a long shot to win the national championship according to the betting odds. They are trying to become the first team to advance to a national championship game as a nine seed or lower. FAU looks like a Cinderella story but they don’t feel that way. The Owls have played 38 games this season and won 35 of them.
They have a 2-1 record against the SEC and they took down a top-three team from the Big 12. They have played seven games against the top 50 teams in Kenpom and won six of them. FAU has a shot to win the whole thing, but likely not.
This team is deep and has a couple of players that could be put in the spotlight but Johnell Davis is the top guy. Davis led the team in scoring this season averaging 13.9 points per game.
Since the tournament he has turned it up, averaging 17.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. His play along with others like Alijah Martin will be critical against one of the best defenses this season. A breakout star to watch is center Vladislav Goldin, who started his career at Texas Tech so big power conference opponents will not rattle him. A big man that can score and rebound down low.
This team is deep, athletic, and energetic and they use that to their advantage. They get up a lot of three-point shots with their up-and-down pace and good spacing. They have multiple ball handlers giving defenses a lot to deal with, making it easy for them to get into their offense.
With a deep bench, they are not afraid to pressure the ball, relying on fresh legs to keep their pace going. Nine players are playing at least 15 minutes per game and have seen a lot of action in the tournament. They rank 15th in bench minutes according to Kenpom.
More often than not the Owls will rely on their three-point shooting and they rely on it more than any other team in the Final Four. During the season they shot 36.5% from three and in the tournament only 31.2%. A pretty big drop-off for a team that will face one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country. This is a legit concern for the Owls going into the national semifinal game.
Ranking the NCAA Men's Final Four Uniforms
The final four is officially upon us. A #9 seed, two #5 seeds, and a #4 seed. Not what everyone predicted! Three of the teams that will take over Houston next weekend come from sunny beach corners of the country. The other comes from the raw Northeast. Florida Atlantic will take on San Diego State in the first game on Saturday. About two hours and forty minutes later, Miami will play UConn. This year’s matchups not only include unlikely teams, they also four very different uniform designs. In ranking the final four uniforms, we took a close look at the unique details each combination entails.
Florida Atlantic and Miami will be the away teams, which historically means they will be sporting the color threads. San Diego State and UConn would then wear white. In terms of school colors, we have three that rock a vibrant design and one that is more traditional. Florida Atlantic, San Diego State and Miami have uniform accents that help make the colors pop. They contain custom aesthetics that represent the school nickname thematically. While UConn’s navy, red, and white layout goes for classic look.
Before we get to our final rankings, let’s break down what we’ve seen so far and what is expected to worn on Saturday night.
Game One:
Florida Atlantic has been the home and away team so far in their journey to cut down nests. This has resulted in three different uniform combinations. The Owls wore the road reds in game one vs. Memphis. They were the home team in game two vs. FDU, so this was their one game in white. As a big underdog vs. Tennessee in game three, they opted for their alternate threads, which is a navy uniform displaying “Owls” in a cursive font across the front. Finally, this past weekend, we saw FAU go back to their more common red away team look. What’s most unique about this uniform is that the last name is printed across the lower back (below the numbers) as opposed to across the shoulders. Florida Atlantic is an Adidas school.
San Diego State has surfed through the tournament with two different looks. As the home team vs. Charleston, Furman, and Creighton they sported their home whites. It’s a standard home design with “San Diego State” printed in black across the chest. This is complemented by red numerals and the school’s strong logo stamped on the lower right trim of the shorts. SDSU knocked off the South region’s #1 seed in Alabama Friday night. This was the one time they were the road warriors and wore their black uniforms. The difference is that the primary black has “Aztecs” printed across the chest. There is no white in this uniform. It’s all black with red accenting. San Diego State is a Jordan-brand school.
Game Two:
Miami, just like their fellow Floridians FAU, has worn three different uniform options in the 2023 tournament. All three are different from each other. They tipped off wearing white with “Canes” spelled out. This is accented by green and orange ribboning throughout the top and bottoms. The Hurricanes then went with their road “Miami” greens in game two vs. Indiana. This is where things get interesting. In the next two games, Miami would defeat the #1 seed in Houston and #2 seed Texas. Both games saw Miami opting for their alternate black option. This has the infamous “U” logo on the tank and shorts. The back of the shorts look like a school color hurricane – with bold waves of green and orange. It’s a pattern unlike any other short we’ve seen in this year’s March Madness. Miami is also an Adidas school.
UConn is the highest remaining seed left in the tournament as the #4. However, their quest to get to Houston also includes a mix of home white and road navy. Their path has been – white, white, white, for the first three rounds. Then, the road navy option vs. Gonzaga in the elite eight. Although, you could have easily confused the two teams given their almost identical school colors. In their 100 + year history (with four tournament championships), UConn has not strayed much from their classic uniform look over the years. They’ve simply varied the “UCONN” vs. “Connecticut” print. The Husky logo on the side of the shorts is such a powerful touch. UConn is a Nike school.
The Final Fit
Typically, in the NCAA men’s tournament, we see a team sport one uniform option all the way through. We may see a team always in their home whites due to being the higher seed. Or a school will can go a more superstitious route and wear a color like maze each game because it is flexible enough to serve as a home or away option.
The 2023 tournament has presented us with some unique color combinations without consistency. To complete a ranking of the final four uniforms here, we assume San Diego State and UConn will be in white as the home teams.
