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FSU Basketball: Should Noles be worried about early hype for next season?

By Jason Parker

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: M.J. Walker #23 of the Florida State Seminoles celebrates his teams lead against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Staples Center on March 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 22: M.J. Walker #23 of the Florida State Seminoles celebrates his teams lead against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament West Regional at Staples Center on March 22, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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FSU basketball is getting lots of love following their Elite Eight finish last season, but could it be a little much heading into next season?

It was just over three months ago when the FSU basketball team made history for just the third time in the 71 seasons the program has existed – making it to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA tournament, something that not many people expected from a ninth seed in the tournament after underachieving the season before in March Madness.

Now, the Seminoles are becoming a trendy team for the upcoming season – the byproduct of returning players like Terrance Mann and Phil Cofer, who was granted another season of eligibility by the NCAA – as head coach Leonard Hamilton enters his 17th season with the Noles.

This week, ESPN.com released their latest Top 25 through the summer and FSU basketball found themselves ranked in the top 20 – ahead of Final Four team Loyola Chicago, ACC member Clemson and several others with a deeper basketball tradition.

"18. Florida StateTerance Mann was a star in Florida State’s Sweet 16 win over Gonzaga (18 points)….Leonard Hamilton’s squad had only a handful of bad losses in 2017-18 and it finished 9-9 in a strong ACC. The Seminoles should improve in 2018-19.C.J. Walker’s decision to transfer hurts FSU’s prospects but there is still a respectable ceiling for this team, which deserves more hype after its Elite Eight run."

While the Seminoles may deserve more hype after being one of the final eight teams standing last season, could too much of that hype be a bad thing?

FSU basketball is going to once again face a monster schedule that comes with being in the ACC – facing tournament teams like Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Virginia and others – to go along with games against tournament teams like rival Florida as well as Purdue and possibly national champion Villanova in a Thanksgiving weekend tournament.

While Mann and Cofer are a formative group, they aren’t the same one-two threat the Seminoles had during the 2016-17 season with Dwayne Bacon and Jonathan Isaac on a team that was supposed to go deep into the tournament.

At the risk of having my allegiance to Florida State questioned,  Hamilton’s team got hot at the right time. While this was a team with several ranked wins, it was also one that got run out of Brooklyn in their ACC tournament opener and wasn’t projected by many to even get out of the first round.

Next: Noles get No. 4 seed in early 2019 tournament prediction

Now, they are one of the sexy picks entering the season to do it again? I want it to happen more than anyone, but I think FSU basketball would be better served by flying more under the radar and not be as hyped early on.

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