FSU Basketball should be thankful for preseason ACC prediction

FSU Basketball was predicted to finish fifth in the early picks from the media this past week – and they need to be counting their stars to be that high.

For much of the past decade, the FSU basketball team has spent their time as one of the top teams in the ACC – a decade that culminated with three appearances in the conference’s annual tournament championship game and the 2012 tournament where the Seminoles defeated North Carolina to bring home their first title.

Along with being one of the top teams in the conference nearly at a yearly mark of late comes a level of expectations for head coach Leonard Hamilton and his Noles – but it might be better for the Seminoles to take a step back when it comes to predictions when it comes to the 2019-20 season.

Coming into a season where FSU basketball will be replacing several big name stars – including the duo of Terance Mann and Mfiondu Kabengele, who are now members of the LA Clippers – after their second straight appearance in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the Noles found out where the media thinks they will finish this season.

Florida State Seminoles

The Seminoles were picked to finish fifth in the ACC this coming season – being placed behind Duke, North Carolina, Louisville and defending national champs Virginia, a team they beat in the ACC Tournament last year – and did not get a first place vote among the 111 votes that were made.

For the Seminoles, there is no better way than that to start the upcoming season – with plenty of room to go forward and now they find themselves in a spot where they can pull off the occasional upset for a season that starts on November 6th against Pittsburgh.

Hamilton’s team will be able to come into the season – one after finishing as the second best team in the annual tournament – also with room to grow and get to know how each member of the team plays with returning stars like Trent Forrest leading the way.

Right now, fight place would have the Seminoles just missing out on the valued double bye spot – but with the way things could be, I think Hamilton, Forrest and the rest of the FSU basketball would take that right now without question.