Florida Atlantic (0-0) at Loyola Chicago (0-0)
Game Info: Wednesday, November 8th, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. EST (Wintrust Arena)
Betting Odds: Florida Atlantic -4.5 (-110) - Over/Under (143.5)
Pick: Over 143.5 (-105)
Wednesday night leads us to one of the solid college basketball matchups early on in the season as a top 10 Florida Atlantic team takes on Loyola Chicago here on Wednesday night in downtown Chicago. Both of these teams have turned into mid major favorites throughout the last several seasons, and both of them will be looking for a crucial victory early on in the season to get the momentum rolling on this brand new college hoops year. They both come into this game with a lot of returning experience and leadership on their rosters and this one can arguably go either way and it should be one of the best games of the early season slate of this new college basketball season.
Florida Atlantic comes into the opening game of the season ranked inside of the initial preseason rankings as they are ranked 10th in the country. They will be looking to open up their season with a solid victory in Chicago against Loyola Chicago as they look to put the country on notice and show them that they are still here to stay and last year’s tournament run was certainly not a fluke. They return plenty of leadership and several of their leading scorers on this year’s roster and they are a team that has a legitimate shot to make a second consecutive tournament run as long as they remain healthy and consistent throughout the regular season.
This will be head coach Dusty May’s fifth season at the helm of Florida Atlantic and he will be looking to keep them consistent and competitive throughout the regular season after their Cinderella run last year. They made it all the way to the final four and came with a single point of making it to the national championship game. They will be looking to replicate that success this season and get back to the final four and make that final push to play for a national championship this season. With all the returning players on their roster, that is a legitimate possibility as long as the players are remain healthy and consistent throughout the year.
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Loyola Chicago is the Cinderella of the country after their several emphatic tournament runs over the last several seasons. They will be looking for an upset victory on opening night at home against a top 10 ranked team as they look to get this season off to a fantastic start here on Wednesday night. They will still be out to prove that they are America’s Cinderella team and they are not going anywhere anytime soon. Much like Florida Atlantic, Loyola Chicago also returns plenty of experience to the starting lineup and plenty of leadership to the roster as well and they have an opportunity to make some noise this season as long as they remain healthy and consistent throughout the year.
They are coming off of a rough season last year and they made headlines a few years ago with their tournament runs so it is very possible that they could reel off another one this season as long as chips fall like they should for them. They will be looking to improve upon their rough performance last season and play their way back into the NCAA tournament this season. A massive momentum boosting victory here in the opening game of the season would go along way for them throughout the remainder of the year and carry over into Atlantic 10 play as well.
Betting trends to consider in this matchup:
- Both teams return their leading scorer from last year
- Both teams have several double digit scorers on the roster
- FAU made the final four last season
I expect this to be a close competitive game between these two solid mid-major schools, and I look for this one to come down to the very final whistle here on Wednesday night in Chicago. This is one of those early season college basketball games that is very hard to pick and that is why I’m going with the safer route of taking the over on the total points line between Florida Atlantic and Loyola Chicago. as I look for this game to be high scoring, in competitive throughout the entirety of the contest.
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