10th ranked FAU ready to tip off vs. Loyola; looking for a major encore to last year's Final Four run

The FAU basketball team was slightly annoyed last year when everyone called them a Cinderella team on their NCAA Tournament Final Four run, but no one will be calling them that this year. The Owls are expected to win now, and teams will be gunning harder than ever to beat them.

FAU gets the season started on Wednesday night in Chicago against Loyola, and there's never been so much expectation and anticipation for an Owls basketball team. The team is ranked 10th in the nation coming into the season, after playing their way to Houston last year, the final for the NCAA tournament as a nine seed.

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Now they're a member of a more challenging American Athletic Conference and have early-season opponents like Butler, and the Jimmy V Classic with Illinois, Connecticut and North Carolina. That trip to New York City will bring them right back to Madison Square Garden, where they punched their ticket to the Final Four last March.

Watch a preview of Wednesday night's road game against Loyola-Chicago, and to hear from the players and head coach Dusty May.

Tip-off in Chicago is 7 p.m.