Has FSU Basketball turned the corner toward deep tournament run?

FSU Basketball is back in the 20 win club and setting themselves up for another potentially long visit to the big dance like what they did last season.

For those who remember the “glory days” of FSU basketball under former head coach Steve Robinson and the first few seasons under Leonard Hamilton, the recent success for the Seminoles is something that is both unaccustomed and welcomed at the same time – even if it still hasn’t brought home the first national title in program history.

Saturday’s blowout win over Georgia Tech moved the Seminoles to a record of 20-5 on the season, the fourth straight season the Noles have reached that plateau of wins and the fifth time in the last six seasons. In his 17th season with the program, Hamilton has the Noles thinking that they might just be a decent basketball program.

With Terance Mann leading the group, Phil Cofer finally healthy and Mfiondu Kabengele playing lights out coming off the bench, FSU basketball is not just in a spot where they can make some noise in the ACC tournament – but also make another deep run in the world of March Madness that follows.

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Entering the week, the Seminoles sit in a four way tie for the elusive fourth place spot in the conference standings – a spot that would give a team that much needed double bye in the tournament and have them resting until the Thursday of that week.

The Noles have four conference losses along with Syracuse and Louisville – teams they beat and hold the tiebreaker over – and a Virginia Tech team they will face in the final home game of the season on March 5th.

What has benefited the Seminoles during the seven game win streak they are on? Well, for the most part, they are finally winning the games they are supposed to. The hallmark of the Hamilton era has been beating ranked teams while somehow losing to the worst team in the conference – something that looked to continue with losses to Pitt and Boston College.

A look at the remaining schedule shows the Seminoles are in good shape – games against Clemson and Wake Forest teams they have already beaten along with the Hokies, a NC State team who has lost four of their last six and a Notre Dame team that has lost seven of their last nine.

Right now, FSU basketball has one tough game on paper left – next Saturday at North Carolina – that is not a must win situation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not encouraging a loss…but it isn’t a killer to chances of that double bye and a high tournament seed.

All they would need to do is win out and have Syracuse and Louisville lose a game each – and with both teams playing each other once while the Orange face Duke and Virginia before the seasons over and the Cardinals play Virginia twice, those chances are pretty good.

Next. Noles blowout Georgia Tech for seventh straight win. dark

The only team that can get in the way of FSU basketball right now is the Seminoles themselves – and with the way things have played out over the last seven games, that bad trend may have finally stopped.

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