Men's Basketball 3/16/2025 11:00:00 PM

Florida Atlantic in 2025 NIT Field, Hosts Dayton Wednesday

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Florida Atlantic men's basketball team has advanced to postseason tournament play for the fourth consecutive season with a berth in the 2025 National Invitation Tournament (NIT). The Owls host Dayton on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena in a first-round game in the Dayton Regional on ESPN2.

Tickets go on sale Monday at 9 a.m., with FAU season ticket holders having priority through 12 p.m. on Tuesday to purchase their existing seats. Courtside seating is $75, with lower arena tickets priced at $30 and upper arena at $20. Information on tickets for FAU students will be announced on Monday.

For ticket information, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit fautickets.com.

Under head coach John Jakus, who is a finalist for the Joe B. Hall Award presented annually to the best first-year coach in Division I, the Owls are 18-15 overall and went 10-8 in the second year as members of the American Athletic Conference. Dayton, the No. 1-seed in the Dayton Regional of the NIT, is 22-10 overall and 12-6 in the Atlantic 10.

The winner of Wednesday's game faces the winner of the Middle Tennessee versus Chattanooga game in the NIT second round. The complete 32-team NIT bracket can be found below.

Florida Atlantic's men's basketball program has flourished since 2019, with five of its seven all-time postseason appearances coming in this seven-year span. The Owls reached the CollegeInsider.com (CIT) in 2019, advanced to the CBI in 2022, and to the NCAA Tournament in 2023 and 2024, including the team's historic Final Four run in 2023.

The team's only other NCAA Tournament appearance came in 2002, with the only previous NIT appearance in 2011.

The Owls' 18-win season marked just the sixth such campaign of 18+ wins in program history. It also marked the program's seventh consecutive winning season. The program had just eight winning seasons prior to 2019.

Florida Atlantic and Dayton have met just once previously, with the Flyers winning 81-56, on Dec. 15, 2012, at the University of Dayton Arena.