They are led by head coach Jeremy Ballard and play their home games at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.

With only six players remaining from the previous season, and not all of them on scholarship, Pitino cobbled together a team and coached a high-pressure defense that finished eighth in the nation in steals.

Additionally, FIU reached the Sun Belt tournament championship game as a four seed, before falling to Western Kentucky, 65–63.

The Panthers lost the game to the Bruins by the score of 92–56, being the first tournament win in UCLA's successful run to the National Championship that year.

The "Sunblazers" men's basketball team was also featured in a second-season episode of Miami Vice entitled "The Fix".