FSU basketball: Noles hold as No. 2 seed in latest NCAA projections

FSU basketball losing to Clemson didn’t hurt their NCAA Tournament projections too much. They are checking as the No. 2 seed at the moment.

No. 7 FSU basketball (24-5, 14-4 ACC) didn’t see much of a change in their NCAA Tournament projections after their last-second loss to Clemson this past weekend.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi still has the Noles projected as the No. 2 seed in the WEST bracket out in Los Angles. It’s the same bracket as projected No. 1 seeded Gonzaga.

Any hopes of gaining a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament likely went up in smoke with the Clemson loss.

The Noles needed Duke to lose against Virginia to have a shot at winning the ACC regular-season title outright, which can happen as long as they win their next two games as they hold two wins over Louisville.

As disappointing as it was to lose that game, the Noles getting a No. 2 seed would still be the highest NCAA Tournament seed they’ve ever received. They earned the No. 3 seed on four separate occasions, the last two times being in 2012 and 2017.

However, FSU basketball has been bounced in the second round in both of those years as the No. 3 seed. Ironically, they’ve gone the farthest as of late as the No. 9 seed, reaching the Elite 8 in 2018.

The Noles should be favorites to win their two remaining games against Notre Dame and Boston College. They’ve already secured a double-bye in the ACC Tournament, meaning they’d only have to win three games to capture its second ACC Tournament title and first since 2012.

FSU basketball played for the ACC Tournament championship last year, losing to Duke in the finals. This is a team that can go deep into the tournament with the right draw.

The only weaknesses they have are teams with guards that can penetrate off the dribble and making bad decisions on the offensive end of things. They’ll take on Notre Dame Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET with the game airing on ESPN2.