How Florida Atlantic can upset Tennessee and reach Elite Eight 

The Florida Atlantic Owls have overachieved all season. The Conference USA preseason coaches' poll projected FAU to finish fifth. Instead, the Owls went 28-3, won their conference tournament and made the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.

In the tournament, Florida Atlantic has already beaten 8-seed Memphis and 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson. On Thursday, the ninth-seeded Owls will play their toughest opponent yet, fourth-seeded Tennessee -- a defensive juggernaut that is third in the nation in points allowed (57.8 PPG). 

FAU, a 5.5-point underdog per OddsChecker, will have its hands full, but it might be able to pull off the upset by following the following recipe.

1. Contributions from the bench

The Owls are greater than the sum of their parts, as no player averages more than 14 points per game or 26 minutes per game, but they have nine players who average at least 15 minutes per game. 

FAU is second in the country in bench points (34.1 PPG), and although rotations are typically trimmed come tournament time, the Owls have gotten 20 and 16 points from their bench in their first two games. 

To beat Tennessee, though, the Owls' bench will likely need to score closer to its season average.

2. Pick up the pace

The Owls and Volunteers average roughly 12 turnovers per game, but they approach transition offense differently. FAU likes to run when given the chance, having averaged 11.8 fast-break points per game this season.

On the flip side, Tennessee prefers to operate at a snail's pace, averaging just 6.3 points on the break per game (308th in the nation) and 67.9 possessions per game (282nd in the nation). 

Tennessee will look to muck up the game and keep the Owls under 60 points -- a magic number for the Vols. During the regular season, seven of the Volunteers 10 losses came when an opponent scored 60-plus. 

To upset Tennessee, Florida Atlantic must push the tempo whenever possible and maximize its field goal attempts and possessions.

3. Stretch Tennessee's defense

While the Volunteers are stout defensively, their perimeter defense took a massive blow when it lost star sophomore Zakai Zeigler for the season with a torn ACL in late February. Not only did Zeigler average two steals per game, but the pesky point guard was also the head of the snake that is Tennessee's suffocating defense. 

The Vols have weathered his loss, but they allowed a lot of open looks from three against Duke in their second-round victory. Zeigler's replacement, Santiago Vescovi, lacks Zeigler's elite lateral quickness, and the team has struggled with its defensive close-outs as a result.

The Owls rank 12th in the country in threes made per game (9.7), and four members of their rotation shoot better than 36% from beyond the arc. Their best chance at success will likely come from pressuring Tennessee from the outside -- moving the ball around the perimeter, driving and kicking, and, most importantly, hitting threes. 

If the Owls stick to this script, they could sneak into the Elite Eight for the first time.