Good morning. For the third time in 11 years, Florida Atlantic baseball begins its season on the road on a Friday night. The Owls travel to Nashville for a three-game series with No. 6 Vanderbilt that kicks off this evening at 5:30pm ET.

The Owls are coming off a 34-25 season in their final campaign as a member of Conference USA. This year's squad, however, will have a very different look to it. Nearly half of the roster is newcomers.

Offensively, the Owls will be counting on John Schroeder, Spencer Rich, and Christian Adams to pick up where they left off last May. Rich finished on a tear, earning himself a spot on the C-USA All-Tournament Team. Newcomers Brando Leroux (shortstop) and Mike La Rocca (first base) will also play key roles. Third base remains an open competition, with Daulton Frank and Patrick Ward leading the group.

The Owls will return home to start an eight-game home stand next Friday, Feb. 23, against Towson. Single-game and season tickets are still available. 

What else can you find mixed into today’s Brew?

⛳️ Men's golf continues spring season at the Florida Gator Invitational
🎙 Mac’s Musings is back to discuss this baseball season and more
🦉 And much, much more

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🔼 On Cloud Nine. The No. 24 Florida Atlantic men's basketball team (20-5, 10-2) AAC picked up the win over Temple (8-17, 1-11 AAC) with an 80-68 victory.
 
In the battle of the Owls, FAU picked up their ninth straight home victory and 10th of the season. For the second game in a row, five Florida Atlantic players scored in double figures, with another top-notch performance from senior guard Brandon Weatherspoon, who dropped 16 points with four triples.

On Sunday, the Owls travel to Tampa to begin a new rivalry with USF in a game with a significant impact on the AAC standings. The Bulls currently lead the conference with a 12-1 record, while Florida Atlantic is right behind at 10-2. Tip-off will be at 12pm ET and will air on ESPN.

🔼 An Embarrassment of Riches. Johnell Davis of the No. 24 Florida Atlantic men's basketball team has been named to the 2024 Jersey Mike's Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Midseason Team, as announced on Thursday afternoon. 
 
The Naismith Trophy is awarded at the end of each season to the best player in NCAA Division I college basketball. 
 
Davis is averaging 18.6 points per game, 6.8 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game, while 49% shooting from the field and 47% from downtown. He is on a 17-game streak scoring in double figures in which he is averaging 21.2 points.
 
Since conference play began, the junior guard has helped lead the Owls to a 9-2 record, averaging 21.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.5 steals. 
 
Davis adds another accolade to his 2023-24 season. Entering as the American Athletic Conference Preseason Co-Player of the Year, he has been awarded two AAC Player of the Week, AP National Player of the Week, Oscar Robertson Player of the Week and has been named to the Top 10 Jerry West Award Watchlist as well as the Midseason Wooden Award Watchlist.

🔼 From the Mind of Mac. It's GAMEWEEK! Head coach John McCormack and Sam Dean preview the outfielders and pitching staff and discuss some of the challenges with starting the season on the road versus at home. Plus, Coach Mac has some book and TV recommendations to share. We also hype up some of the other FAU teams in action this weekend. It's a busy episode to get you ready for the trip to Vanderbilt this weekend! 

Send your mailbag questions for Coach Mac to @FAUBaseball on X (formerly Twitter).

Follow the podcast on Spotify, give it a rating, and turn your notifications on so you don't miss an episode. 

🔼 A Little Owl Told Us. Florida Atlantic men's golf continues its spring season at the Florida Gator Invitational today and tomorrow. The event has been moved up a day to avoid potential weather issues on Sunday. 36 holes will now be played on Friday and 18 on Saturday.

The Owls will be paired with Jacksonville and UCF on Friday starting at 7:50am ET on the 16th tee. The lineup will feature one change from Jacksonville two weeks ago. Senior Jake Hibbert will make his season debut after sitting out the fall with an injury.

The field features 15 teams and 84 individual competitors. USF is the only other participating team from the American Athletic Conference. The tournament hosts, Florida, will field two teams.

Mark Bostick Golf Course will play host as a par-70 at 6,701 yards. Contained within a 116-acre plot of land, the MBGC is short by today's golf standards. However, a $4 million renovation project in 2001 by Jacksonville-based architect Bobby Weed transformed the contour of the landscape, creating a course that is both physically and mentally challenging.

🔼 Mean Green, Indeed. The Florida Atlantic Owls (8-16, 3-10 AAC) fourth-quarter rally fell just short on Thursday as the Owls dropped a 67-57 battle against the AAC-leading North Texas Mean Green (19-5, 9-3 AAC) inside Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena.

"One of our more disappointing performances,” said head coach Jennifer Sullivan. “I didn't feel like we competed at a high enough level. A lot of credit to North Texas, they're a good basketball team, but I definitely think we had a chance. Excited about our fight there in the fourth, but definitely think we can continue to improve."

Florida Atlantic women's basketball will head back out on the road as they prepare to take on in-state rival USF for a 7 p.m. tip on Saturday, Feb. 17, inside the Yuengling Center.

📣 CALL TO ACTION

The PowerOwls Club is an exclusive community dedicated to connecting FAU fans and student-athletes. Stay in the know about all they’re doing here.

We’re encouraging every fan to help the PowerOwls Club reach their 250-card goal by February 29th. Purchase a Collectible Card TODAY to support FAU student-athletes!

🦉 ONE BIG THING

Flock Together. Catching FAU men’s basketball games is always better with fellow fans, so you’ll want to partake in this watch party on Sunday. Sign up here!

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

Friday 2/16

🥎 Softball vs. Maine @ 4:30pm ET - Joan Joyce Classic | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets

⚾️ Baseball @ Vanderbilt @ 5:30pm ET | Watch on ESPN+/ SEC Network+

🥎 Softball vs. Louisville @ 7pm ET - Joan Joyce Classic | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets

Saturday 2/17

⛳️ Men’s Golf @ Gator Invitational

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. South Alabama @ 10am ET

🎾 Men’s Tennis vs. Memphis @ USF @ 1:30pm ET

🥎 Softball vs. Seton Hall @ 1:30pm ET - Joan Joyce Classic | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets

🥎 Softball vs. Michigan @ 6pm ET - Joan Joyce Classic | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets

⚾️ Baseball @ Vanderbilt @ 3pm ET | Watch on ESPN+/ SEC Network+

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ USF @ 7pm ET on ESPN+ | Live Stats 

Sunday 2/18

⛳️ Men’s Golf @ Gator Invitational

🥎 Softball vs. Seton Hall @ 11:30am ET - Joan Joyce Classic | Live Video | Live Stats | Tickets

🏀 Men’s Basketball @ USF @ 12pm ET on ESPN Fox Sports South Florida | Live Audio | Live Stats 

🎾 Men’s Tennis @ USF @ 1:30pm ET

⚾️ Baseball @ Vanderbilt @ 3pm ET | Watch on ESPN+/ SEC Network+

🦉 Click here to view the entire FAU Athletics Calendar

🦉 Have a great Friday, y’all