FSU Baseball: Noles not worried about facing another SEC team in Omaha

FSU baseball will find themselves opening up their time in the College World Series with a team from the same conference that their last two teams faced.

Before the FSU baseball team began their postseason run that has taken nearly everyone by storm across the country, the Seminoles completed their 28th season as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference – a move that, to be honest, was done mostly for football reasons to help build what was once a dying conference.

Over a quarter century later, it’s not just a basketball league but also one of the best all around conferences in the entire college game – from what Clemson is doing on the football field of late to the Virginia Cavaliers on the baseball diamond not that long ago.

For the Seminoles and the rest of the conference, it’s a chance for the ACC to go toe to toe with the league that they have seemed to be chasing for decades before – the big, bad bullies of the southeast region of the country known as the Southeastern Conference.

It’s the conference that has played the role of the jocks in the region, capped of late by winning seven straight BCS championships in football to numerous titles in other sports to creating their own television network (something the ACC is doing this coming August, for those that didn’t know).

Florida State Seminoles

It’s also the conference that has sent two nationally seeded teams (No. 4 Georgia and No. 13 LSU) to get beat by FSU baseball on the road to Omaha – and will be sending another one into battle when the Seminoles open up their CWS journey against the No. 5 national seed Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday night.

For the players in garnet and gold, during an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat during the final practice in Tallahassee before heading to Omaha, the three letters on the jerseys for their opening game foes isn’t a real concern.

"“These teams that we’ve ran through are definitely pretty good, and we know that we’re going to see as good, if not better, competition in Omaha,” starting pitcher C.J. Van Eyk said.“I think we’ve played in the toughest environment in college baseball against one of the toughest teams in college baseball as well,” FSU third baseman Drew Mendoza said.  “Anybody in Omaha is there for a reason. So any team, regardless of conference, is going to be a challenge, and we’re looking forward to it.”"

The part in bold above is the mindset that the FSU baseball team needs to have at this point – the Seminoles and the other seven teams in Omaha are the best teams left and all eight teams are capable of winning it all if things play out a certain way.

If that is the mindset that stays in place for the opening game and beyond for the Noles, it could be a very long stay in Omaha this season for the final ride under legendary head coach Mike Martin.