FSU Basketball becomes serious contender with consecutive Sweet 16 runs

FSU basketball will now have to be considered one of the top programs in the country after again making it back to the second weekend of the tournament.

When the history books talk about the moments that have made the FSU basketball program, the first 40 seasons will be defined by one magical year when the Seminoles came within five points of beating the sports’ greatest dynasty for a national title – and a total of just three appearances in the NCAA tournament over that span.

Over the last 32 seasons that include this one, the Noles have gone to the madness of March nearly half of that time (14 appearances) that include five appearances under former head coach Pat Kennedy with the highlight being an Elite Eight appearance in 1993.

After that season, the program realized that while the Seminoles were dominating the ACC in football the FSU basketball team was going to be starting from the bottom for a while against the conference’s elite. Heck, the Noles have as many appearances all time in the big dance as the team they beat Saturday (Murray State) and less than teams like Utah State and New Mexico State.

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What many didn’t realize was that the bottom was going to be home for nearly five seasons under former coach Steve Robinson and several seasons during the start of the Leonard Hamilton era.

Now, in year number 17 under the ageless wonder, the Seminoles have become a program who over the last 11 seasons has finished below 6th in the best basketball conference a total of four times while playing for the ACC title three times (winning one) while making it to the big dance seven times over that span and heading to the second weekend three of those times.

Simply put, after years in purgatory with the sport, FSU basketball has to be considered one of the country’s top consistent programs when it comes to playing the game.

Now, please don’t read into that to say that I am comparing the Seminoles to teams like Duke, North Carolina and others who are yearly considered to be national title contenders – as loyal as I am to the school, we are also realists in the fact that the Noles have an uphill battle each season in the ACC just to even sniff the conversation of being a title contender year in and out.

With that being said, this is a program who has won at least 20 games a season nine times over that 11 season span since 2008-09 that includes averaging over 24 wins a season the last year years while each season is being considered a team who can get to the NCAA tournament – and in the case of this season, be considered to make a deep run.

Before the ACC tournament, I wrote that this may be the last chance for a while the Noles have to win the national title – and while that may be true, don’t expect this team to be heading back to the NIT soon unless there is a major letdown, injuries or Hamilton shockingly leaves.

FSU basketball may never make the garnet and gold a true #BasketballSchool like some others in the ACC and around the country are (and what some have jokingly said we are now) – but Hamilton and his staff have made it a marker of consistency that may have allowed it to turn the corner permanently.