FSU basketball: Noles No. 20 in AP Poll; drop to No. 21 in Coaches poll

FSU basketball inches closer to getting back into the Top 10.

FSU basketball is now the No.20 ranked team in the nation according to the Associated Press’ Top 25 poll, racking up 350 total points this week after their blowout victory over North Florida.

After winning the ACC regular-season title and being the early favorite to win the ACC tournament last season, there were many, including longtime ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, who believed that FSU had a legitimate chance of winning the NCAA tournament.

Unfortunately, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season ended before that could happen. It wasn’t a total loss, as Florida State finished ranked No. 4 in the nation, their highest finish in the program’s history.

The Seminoles began this season ranked No. 21 in the AP preseason poll, understandable after losing star players Devin Vassell and Patrick Williams to the NBA draft.

While they’re still quite a ways out from getting back to where they were at that abrupt ending, they’ve taken another step in the right direction by handling their business last Wednesday against North Florida.

Florida State remains one of now six ACC teams to be in the Top 25, with the others being Duke (#10, down from #6 last week), Virginia Tech (#15, up from #16) North Carolina (#16, down from #14),  Virginia (#18, down from #16), and now Louisville (#25, newly entered into the Top 25). They remain the only team in the state of Florida who is in the Top 25, though the University of Florida is receiving votes.

While the members of the Associated Press poll seems to be pleased with FSU’s performance last Wednesday, clearly the members of USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll weren’t as impressed, as the Seminoles dropped to No. 21 in that particular poll. They began the season ranked tied with Houston for No. 18 in the nation after finishing at No. 5 in their final poll last season.

This week, Florida State’s schedule gets a bit tougher, as they will host 3-1 Indiana on Wednesday night at 9:15 EST as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, and then the Seminoles will renew their yearly pleasantries with their bitter rivals, the Florida Gators, on Saturday at 11 a.m. EST.

Winning both of those games will almost certainly garner the Seminoles a bit more traction before they begin ACC play next week against Georgia Tech.