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FSU Basketball sliding down Bracketology boards after slump

By Jason Parker

MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 07: Braian Angola #11 of the Florida State Seminoles drives to the basket while being defended by Lonnie Walker IV #4 of the Miami Hurricanes during the first half of the game at The Watsco Center on January 7, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 07: Braian Angola #11 of the Florida State Seminoles drives to the basket while being defended by Lonnie Walker IV #4 of the Miami Hurricanes during the first half of the game at The Watsco Center on January 7, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images) /
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FSU basketball is still on track to make it to the NCAA Tournament – but it won’t be as easy of a road as it looked just a few weeks ago.

Just over a month ago, FSU basketball was sitting pretty and looking like they would make a decent showing in the NCAA Tournament. At 12-3 with the losses coming against ranked Duke and Miami teams along with a one point loss to Oklahoma State, the Seminoles had a decent resume that included wins over ranked Florida and North Carolina squads.

Fast forward to the present day, and the Noles find themselves wondering what the heck happened over the past few weeks. Head coach Leonard Hamilton not only has a team that is just .500 over their last 10 games, but included in that group is bad losses to teams like Boston College, Wake Forest and Saturday’s blowout loss to Notre Dame.

Needless to say, a FSU basketball team who was looking at possibly being a No. 5 or 6 seed nationally at one point is sliding quickly – and both of the county’s major experts on picking the tournament field have the Seminoles needing their road jerseys for March Madness.

Both ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and CBS’s Jerry Palm have the Noles coming in as a No. 9 seed in their latest Bracketology predictions – both being in the same region and playing teams from the same conference.

"ESPN Bracketology (updated Monday)Midwest RegionNo. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 9 FLORIDA STATE (in Nashville)No. 1 Xavier vs. No. 16 UNC AshvilleCBS Bracketology (updated Sunday)Midwest RegionNo. 8 Alabama vs. No. 9 FLORIDA STATE (in Detroit)No. 1 Xavier vs. No. 16 Florida Gulf Coast"

A few observations would be that the Seminoles need to hope CBS is closer to getting this right considering the Crimson Tide would be an easier game than a Wildcats team who, while also dealing with issues, can still make a deep tournament run with their current talent.

Either way, a tournament opener win would mean a rematch with an Xavier team who smoked the Noles in last season’s second round of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, ending the FSU basketball season during what would likely have been their best chance at a deep run for a while.

Next: FSU Basketball Weekly Preview: February 12th-18th

Florida State still has five games left in the season, including two games against a ranked Clemson team and one against a N.C. State team who will likely be dancing as well. So, there is still time for the number beside the Seminoles’ name to go up.

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