FSU basketball and 13 other members of the ACC will be playing their final regular season games Saturday – and here is who the Seminoles are pulling for.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way for the FSU basketball team during the 2017-18 season. This was a team who, coming off a second place finish in the ACC last season and a NCAA Tournament berth, was supposed to be one of the top teams in the conference and be a shoe in for another trip to March Madness this season.
Instead, the Seminoles enter the final game of the regular season with a 19-10 record – a record that includes seven games the Noles lost by seven points or less, including three by no more than four points – that has Florida State in a position where they could be playing in one of the first games of the 2018 ACC Tournament next week in Brooklyn.
Right now, FSU basketball sits as the No. 10 seed in next week’s affair which would have them face off with a Pittsburgh Panthers team who finished the season 0-18 in the conference (and still had a halftime lead over the Seminoles in their game earlier this year).
All that could change for the better – and possibly even for the worse – when the final seven games of the regular season are played Saturday involving the 14 ACC teams who haven’t completed their season (enjoy watching, Panthers). So, who do those in Garnet and Gold need to be rooting for this weekend? Here’s a look.
For FSU Basketball to get the No. 8 seed…
The Seminoles need to go out in their regular season finale and beat a Boston College team they lost to earlier in the season – and get some help with Louisville losing on the road to N.C. State and Notre Dame losing at top ranked Virginia, which would knock the Fighting Irish out of a tiebreaker with Florida State as the Noles would jump the Cardinals just to play them Wednesday at noon.
For FSU Basketball to get the No. 9 seed…
Assuming the Seminoles handle business against the Eagles, a win by the Cardinals would keep them above the Noles even thought they would still play in that Wednesday first game – as long as the Fighting Irish lose so there is no tiebreaker with Florida State, who they beat earlier this season.
FSU Basketball remains the No. 10 seed if…
Even by winning their game against Boston College, the Seminoles could still stay put if both Louisville and Notre Dame win their games, keeping both ahead of the Noles before Brooklyn. If that’s the case, the Seminoles play Tuesday at 2 p.m. against Pittsburgh.
FSU Basketball drops to the No. 11 seed if…
Well, it would start with the Seminoles losing their finale against Boston College, which would keep Notre Dame above them and have the Eagles jump over the Noles by virtue of that season sweep. Florida State would hold the tiebreaker over Syracuse if the Orange were to upset Clemson, so this is the furthest the Noles could fall with them playing the loser of Saturday’s Wake / Ga. Tech game on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Next: Noles still dancing after latest setback against Clemson
So, for those of you scoring at home on Saturday, FSU basketball nation needs to be rooting hard for our Seminoles but also be big fans for both the Virginia Cavaliers and N.C. State Wolfpack – and maybe even the Clemson Tigers just to be safe.