Florida State Seminoles: 20-10, 9-9 in the ACC
Head coach: Leonard Hamilton (16th season)
Players to watch: Terrance Mann (13.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG); Phil Cofer (13.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG); Braian Angola (13.0 PPG, 3.9 RPG)
Season recap: With stars Dwayne Bacon and Jonathan Issac leaving the program for the NBA, the Seminoles took a step back from their 24-7 season that saw the team finish second in the ACC. After starting off the season strong with nine straight victories, including a road win over then-No.5 Florida, Florida State struggled to find any consistency in ACC play, failing to win more than three games in a row.
The conference's schedule makers did the Seminoles no favors—their opening stretch included Duke, North Carolina, and Miami, all which were top-15 teams at the time. Although the 1-2 ACC start was nothing to be ashamed of, losses to Louisville and Boston College hampered Florida State early in ACC play.
However, three straight wins temporarily righted the ship before three losses in four games—including a road defeat to lowly Wake Forest—put an NCAA bid in question. Nonetheless, the Seminoles closed the season winning the games they were expected to win and added a home victory against then-No.11 Clemson, while losing on the road to NC State and Clemson which pushed them out of a bye in the ACC tournament.
Florida State should make the NCAA tournament as a low double-digit seed, and even a loss to Louisville shouldn't impact their position. However, a string of wins would go miles in pushing the Seminoles up to a higher seed line.
How they make a run: Florida State’s primary shooters—Phil Cofer, Braian Angola, and M.J. Walker—get hot to lead the Seminoles past Louisville before upsetting Virginia en route to the semifinals.
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