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NCAA Tournament: No. 4 seed history been a mixed bag for FSU

By Kelvin Hunt

SUNRISE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 21: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles looks on against the South Florida Bulls during the second half of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at BB&T Center on December 21, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 21: Head coach Leonard Hamilton of the Florida State Seminoles looks on against the South Florida Bulls during the second half of the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic at BB&T Center on December 21, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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FSU basketball earned a No. 4 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament and will take on the No. 13 UNC-Greensboro Spartans (21-8) from the Southern Conference.

The collapse at the end of the coast FSU at least one seed spot, as the would have been at No. 3 or possibly No. 2 seed had everything gone their way.

Nevertheless, they’re in the No. 4 spot where they’ve been two other times in their history. The Noles were No. 4 seeds in 1989 under Pat Kennedy, and 2019, the last time they played in the NCAA Tournament.

Their history is a mixed bag, losing to No. 13 seed Middle Tennessee State in the first round. The Noles faced No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, and lost handily in 2019.

The NCAA Tournament is all about getting hot with the right matchups. It would have been nice to have gotten a better seed to avoid a potential matchup with No. 1 Michigan in the Sweet 16 this year.

However, the Noles caught a break by not being in No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga’s bracket. Ironically, the ‘Noles best recent NCAA Tournament run came as a No. 9 seed when they knocked off No. 1 Xavier to advance to the Sweet 16 where they beat Gonzaga to reach the Elite 8 in 2018.

FSU basketball has the talent and depth to make a deep run in their bracket, but they must find the juice they had earlier in the season when things were clicking on all cylinders.

FSU shoots it well enough from three-point land, shoots free-throws well, has length, size, and athleticism.

However, their Achilles heel as of late has been a ridiculous amount of turnovers and starting games without a sense of urgency.

They have 91 turnovers in their last five games, and that’s averaging 18.2 turnovers per game over that stretch.

FSU needs to get back to playing how they were when not ranked or barely ranked in the top 25. I thought losing to a sub .500 Notre Dame team would have woken them up, but that wasn’t enough. Here’s to hoping they can take this week to find the motivation they need to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

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