Temple vs FAU Odds: Florida Atlantic Massive Favorites
FAU Not Giving Two Hoots About Hurting Feelings

Temple visits No. 24 Florida Atlantic on Thursday night in a battle of the Owls. It’s been a rough season for Temple, which has dropped nine straight NCAAB games. After defeating Wichita State on Jan. 7, Temple was 8-7 and 1-1 in conference games. Now, Temple is 8-16 and 1-10 in conference games.
Things have been a lot better for the Owls who will be at home tonight. FAU has won eight of its last nine games and has a spot in the NCAAB rankings. Florida Atlantic isn’t expected to have any troubles tonight. The Temple vs FAU odds show Florida Atlantic is favored by 19.5 points. The total on the contest is 147.5 points.
Temple Owls vs FAU Owls 
Day/Time:
Location: Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena, Boca Raton, Florida
Streaming: ESPN2
Temple Offense is Atrocious
The biggest culprit to Temple recent struggles is the offense. The team is ranked last in the AAC in the KenPom offensive efficiency ratings. The college basketball stats show Temple is shooting just 38.3% in conference games. Temple is equally bad from 2-point or 3-point range.
About the only good thing you can say about the offense is it doesn’t make a lot of turnovers. Temple doesn’t get many offensive rebounds and as bad as the team shoots, there are chances for them. The team slows down the pace a little bit, but not too terribly much.
Temple’s defense is a little better than the offense. But that’s a pretty low measuring stick. Temple is allowing 74.5 points in AAC games. It doesn’t defend the 2-pointer very well, but is pretty average against the 3-pointer. Temple sends the opposition to the foul line too much. But Temple does a fair job of forcing turnovers and doesn’t allow that many offensive rebounds.
Despite the losing streak, Temple has played better as of late. Temple is 3-3-1 ATS in that stretch, with two of the losses occurring as underdogs in overtime.
The team did cover its last two games against Memphis and Charlotte. For the season, Temple is 9-12-2 against the NCAAB odds and 12-11 in totals. Temple is 4-6-1 ATS in conference games and 5-6 in totals.
FAU With Huge Matchup on Tap
This isn’t the greatest of spots for FAU. Florida Atlantic is coming off two straight overtime games and has South Florida up next on Sunday. That game will likely determine the AAC regular season championship. The Bulls lead FAU by 1.5 games and a USF win would pretty much seal the title.
A Florida Atlantic win would even up the standings and give FAU the tie-breaker. FAU is pretty much a 50-50 team for betting purposes. Florida Atlantic is 12-12 against the spread and in totals. It has struggled a bit in conference games, going just 3-8 ATS.
Florida Atlantic has the best offensive efficiency rating in the conference. This college basketball team shoots well from the field, doesn’t make many turnovers and hits the offensive boards well.
FAU is shooting 77.3% from the foul line in conference games. Florida Atlantic doesn’t get to the free throw line quite enough to take advantage of it. But the offense is solid all the way around.
The FAU defense isn’t great. But it doesn’t have to be. Florida Atlantic is No. 7 in the defensive efficiency ratings in conference games. Florida Atlantic is allowing 51.7% shooting on 2-pointers, but that’s about the only weakness. FAU holds teams to 32.6% on 3-pointers, holds its own on the boards and forces some turnovers.
What to Expect
Temple needs to come out and try to keep the game at a manageable pace. It can’t get into a running contest with FAU or the college basketball scoreboard will get ugly.
Florida Atlantic will look to come out strong and put Temple away early. But that’s been easier said than done for FAU. While Florida Atlantic has a +9.3 scoring margin in AAC games, it only leads by an average of 1.5 points at halftime.
Who to Bet On?
The Temple vs FAU odds are definitely on the high side here. Not that the point spread doesn’t deserve to be pretty steep. Florida Atlantic could very well roll past Temple. But with South Florida up next and Temple playing a little better than it looks, it’s tough to pull the trigger on Florida Atlantic.
The Temple vs FAU odds on the total are tough to get a read on. If Florida Atlantic jumps on Temple early, there could more playing time for the reserves. It’s difficult to forecast how that will affect the over/under.
Looking at this game from the perspective of betting value, it’s going to be easier to make a case for Temple +19.5. The spread is a little bit inflate due to the nine-game losing streak.
But Temple has only lost by more than 18 points once all NCAAB season. The team may not be winning, but it’s been fairly competitive and that’s all we need here.
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