Men’s Basketball 3/13/2024

Florida Atlantic Plays in Three Most-Watched AAC Games this Season

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic men’s basketball team played in the three most-watched games by American Athletic Conference teams this season, including a regular-season school record of nearly one million viewers last Saturday.

Last Saturday’s thriller over Memphis — a 92-84 win — at sold-out Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena drew 922,000 viewers on CBS, making it the most-viewed regular season men’s basketball game in school history. In total, the Owls drew well more than five million viewers for their linear television games during the 2023-24 regular season.

New to the American Athletic Conference this season, but not new to the national spotlight after last year’s historic Final Four run, Florida Atlantic saw a 600% percent increase in linear national television games from last season. After just three national TV slots in the 2022-23 regular season, the Owls got the nod on the national dial 20 times this season, including highly-rated games on CBS, FOX and ESPN.

No AAC team drew more eyeballs than the Owls, with the FAU-Memphis game topping FAU-Illinois (768,000 viewers on ESPN), FAU-Arizona (735,000 viewers on FOX), Memphis-Vanderbilt (721,000 viewers on CBS) and Memphis-Wichita State (604,000 viewers on CBS) as the most-watched games involving conference teams this season.

Florida Atlantic has posted a 30-1 record at home over the last two seasons, tied for the most home wins in that span by any team nationally (Drake). The Owls have not lost a conference game at home since Feb. 19, 2022 – a conference home winning streak that now spans more than two calendar years at 20 consecutive games.

The program announced a full-season sellout in October and finished the regular season as one of just 14 teams nationally to play before a sold-out home crowd every game this season, joining Villanova, Connecticut, Gonzaga, Duke, Houston, Purdue, Kansas, Michigan State, Dayton, Auburn, Grand Canyon, Rutgers and Xavier.

Led by co-American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Johnell Davis, the Owls are 24-7 overall and finished 14-4 in their inaugural AAC season. Florida Atlantic owns the No. 2-seed in the AAC Tournament and opens play Friday at 7 p.m. ET in the quarterfinals on ESPNU versus the winner of North Texas and Tulane.

Most Watched Games Involving AAC Teams in 2023-24

1.     Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis – 922,000* – CBS – March 9, 2024
2.     Florida Atlantic vs. Illinois – 768,000 – ESPN – Dec. 5, 2023
3.     Florida Atlantic vs. Arizona – 735,000 – FOX – Dec. 23, 2023
4.     Memphis vs. Vanderbilt – 721,000 – CBS – Dec. 23, 2023
5.     Memphis vs. Wichita State – 604,000 – CBS – February 3, 2024
*regular-season school record for Florida Atlantic