Florida State basketball declining the NIT has to be disappointing for the fan base

Florida State basketball had a fantastic finish to the 2025-2026 season, with the Seminoles ending on a high note in winning 11 of their last 14 games. They were considered one of the hottest teams in the country, and unlike Auburn, they were playing their best basketball at the right time.

Fans have to give props to head coach Luke Loucks for the job that he did during his first season. It couldn't have been easy to get embarrassed at home by North Carolina State in blowout fashion and have to look yourself in the mirror and find a solution.

However, he and his coaching staff put the work in and got the job done. It was unfortunate that the fan base had the bitter taste of the Duke loss in the ACC Tournament, but without having a moral victory, the Seminoles did hang in there tough against the number-one seed.

Florida State basketball decided to decline the NIT bid

After the 80-79 defeat to the Blue Devils, the fan base was under the impression that this would not be the last time that they saw the likes of guard Robert McCray V, guard Kobe MaGee, guard Lajae Jones, forward Chauncey Wiggins, and forward Alex Steen, but Florida State decided to decline any postseason opportunities.

This was a head-scratcher as the squad seemed to gel together nicely and wanted to get more reps, as well as allow the fan base to invest more time into watching the product. As Coach Loucks stated previously, the Seminoles are playing like a top-25 team right now. Why couldn't they continue to let the good times roll?

On the flip side, Florida State has had a grind-it-out season where they have played their hearts out over the past couple of weeks. The future is bright for the Seminoles, as Coach Loucks is bringing in a top-ten recruiting class. Hopefully, this could be a stepping stone for Florida State to make it into March Madness next year.