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FSU Basketball: Noles in good shape to go dancing in March

By Kelvin Hunt

ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 18: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles reacts after their 66-91 loss to the Xavier Musketeers during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Amway Center on March 18, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 18: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles reacts after their 66-91 loss to the Xavier Musketeers during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Amway Center on March 18, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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FSU basketball has done better than expected up to this point this season but will need a strong finish.

FSU basketball (16-5, 5-4 ACC) continues to get disrespected in the AP polls, but looks to be in good shape to go dancing in the NCAA Tournament in March barring an epic collapse down the stretch.

There are nine games remaining with an incredible mixture of good and bad teams in the ACC left on the slate. FSU plays three (No. 20 Clemson twice) of the top four teams in the conference, and four of the five worst teams in the conference.

The ‘Noles have won three consecutive games by an average margin of 9.6 points yet still find themselves outside the latest rankings released Monday.

However, schools like North Carolina and Florida with either identical  or worse records continue to be ranked.

They also have better projected seeds in the NCAA Tournament according to Joe Lunardi. FSU is projected as a No. 8 seed with North Carolina and Florida are projected as No. 4 and No. 5 seeds respectively.

FSU basketball is projected to play in the West bracket against No. 9 Providence (14-7, 5-3 Big East) in Witchita.

How in the world is Providence a No. 9 seed? Sure, they beat No. 5 Xavier a week or two ago, but Florida was ranked No. 5 when FSU blew the doors off them by 17 points in Gainesville.

Thoughts

FSU is a quality team that can beat a lot of good teams, and could beat elite teams if they could turn up the intensity on defense.

They have an opportunity to win at least 10 games in the ACC by winning five of their next nine games. Truth be told they should be able to do that on paper at least.

It’s possible to win one of the two games against Clemson so FSU basketball needs to keep winning the games they are supposed to win.

Next: FSU Basketball Preview January 29th-February 4th

It’s something they’ve done a good job of this year and looks like they’ll be going back to the NCAA Tournament in back-to back years for the first time since making the tournament four consecutive years from 2009-12.

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