UAB vs FAU Prediction: Who Will Win the Conference USA Championship Game?

UAB vs FAU Prediction: Who Will Win the Conference USA Championship Game?

The Saturday before Selection Sunday is filled with numerous conference championships. Many are looking forward to ACC, Big 12, and other big-name conference titles. These will all, without a doubt, be great, but a more “lowkey” conference championship catches my eye. I'm talking about Conference USA.

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UAB vs FAU Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds

• Date: Saturday, March 11, 2023
• Start Time: 8:30 pm ET
• Where to Watch: CBSSN

Click here for UAB vs FAU odds

UAB vs FAU Prediction

Jordan “Jelly” Walker, one of the best players in the country, and the Blazers take on a ranked UAB Owls team who’s dominated the Conference USA. He may be the best player you haven’t watched this season, and he’s playing out of his mind recently. Walker dropped 27 against Rice in the first round. He followed that performance up with a 32-piece against one of the best defenses in the country, North Texas. If Jelly can get whatever he wants against the Mean Green, UAB is in for a tough night.

When UAB and FAU played in January, it took a legacy performance from Johnell Davis, a bench player, to seal a two-point win for the Owls. Davis is a solid young player, but that was an outlier on his stat sheet. Expect Davis to be limited closer to his season average tonight; the Blazers held him under 20 in the second matchup.

In February, Andy Kennedy’s Blazers seemed to have figured out FAU’s gameplan, holding the Owls to 37% from the field. With how well UAB has been playing, I don’t see anyone getting in their path to the dance. FAU barely beat an average Middle Tennessee State team in the last round.

I don’t know if there’s a player in the country playing better basketball than Jelly Walker. This kid has been carrying his team not only throughout the tournament but this entire season. He was hurt at the beginning of the year, but ever since he’s been healthy down the stretch, he’s been unstoppable. Jelly will, without a doubt, be tearing up the NBA in a matter of months, but he has some unfinished business to take care of before he turns pro.

These two teams are trending in opposite directions. UAB is in the midst of an eight-game winning streak, playing their best ball of the season, while UAB is barely skirting by these middle-of-the-pack C-USA teams. There is a reason an eight-loss Blazers team is the betting favorite against a UAB team that’s been ranked nationally at times during the season. It looks like the preseason favorite to win the conference is finally coming together, and March Madness won’t be the same without Jelly.

UAB vs FAU Pick

UAB ML (-130) Bet $100 to collect $176 BetMGM has the best odds; click here to bet