Who is favored in Florida Atlantic Owls at UL Monroe Warhawks?

Florida Atlantic (1-1) is a heavy road favorite over a winless UL Monroe (0-3) squad, but the Owls' lone loss was a 45-point blowout to Florida while the Warhawks' 3 defeats have been closer than the record suggests. The gap on paper is real; how close it stays on the field is the actual question.

Florida Atlantic

Beat Navy 38-30, its only win this year
Blown out 21-66 by Florida, its lone other game
Only data point on defending a physical front is ugly

UL Monroe

Lost by just 6 to UAB (26-20)
Lost by 3 to Southeast Louisiana (38-35), stayed in it
Winless through 3 games, last in the Sun Belt West
Opened the year with a 62-13 blowout to Mississippi State

Florida Atlantic split its first two games this year, taking down Navy 38-30 before getting run off the field 21-66 by Florida, and sits at 1-1 as it heads to Monroe on Saturday, September 26. UL Monroe is on the other end of the spectrum entirely, still looking for its first win after dropping all 3 of its games to open 2026.

DraftKings has the Owls as double-digit road favorites, and the number lines up with the gap between a team that just beat an FBS opponent and one still searching for a signature moment. UL Monroe's losses haven't been the kind of blowouts a winless record usually implies, though — a 6-point loss to UAB and a 3-point defeat to Southeast Louisiana show a team that's competitive for stretches without being able to finish.

That combination — a favorite with one lopsided loss on its own resume and an underdog that keeps games close before losing them late — is exactly the kind of spot where the number and the tape can tell slightly different stories heading into the weekend.

The Florida loss is the swing factor for how far to trust Florida Atlantic here. Getting outscored 66-21 by a Power program says little on its own, but it's the only real data point suggesting the Owls can be overwhelmed up front, and Monroe's staff will have had two weeks to study it.

For UL Monroe, first-year — really second-year — head coach Bryant Vincent is still looking for his first Sun Belt-caliber win of the season, and a home date against a bruised-up but talented Florida Atlantic squad is as good a chance as any to snap the 0-3 start before conference play gets tougher.

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