The Associated Press (AP) released their preseason Men’s College Basketball Top 25 Poll on Monday, and the FAU Owls debuted at #10—their highest ranking program history. Their first entry into the top 10  comes after the Owls retained 13 of 14 players from their Final Four run and  head coach Dusty May under a 10-year contract extension.

Their #10 ranking is the first time in the program they’ve been featured in the preseason AP Top 25 and is up 15 spots from #25, where they finished last season. 

The Owls currently rank  above multiple power five schools, like the #13 University of Miami, #16 University of Kentucky and #19 University of North Carolina. 

The Owls will look to protect this #10 ranking as they face three ranked opponents this season. The first comes against #25 University of Illinois in the Jimmy V Classic. The next possible matchup comes against #15 Texas A&M University in the ESPN Events Invitational, depending on how the bracket falls. The final ranked opponent will be against #12 University of Arizona at T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas, Nev. 

FAU will play their first game of the season against Loyola University Chicago in the Barstool Sports Invitational in Chicago, Ill. on Nov. 8.

JD Delcastillo is a Staff Writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email him at [email protected] or reach out on Instagram @jd.delcastillo.