Florida State baseball is in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 42 years and will have just one more game to further its case before regional match-ups are set.
FSU will play No. 3 seed NC State in its final ACC Tournament game on Friday night. The Seminoles come in squarely on the bubble and as it stands, both D1Baseball and Baseball America currently have FSU in.
Whether or not the Seminoles are ultimately in the field won’t be known for sure until Monday afternoon. Watching the streak of 41 straight 40-win seasons and missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977 would certainly be a damper on an FSU athletic year that started with the football program missing a bowl game for the first time since 1981 and enduring a losing season for the first time in 42 years.
As irony would have it, the last time that FSU baseball missed the tournament was also the last time that FSU football had a losing season prior to this year. During the 1976-77 athletic year, FSU finished just 5-6 on the gridiron under first-year head coach Bobby Bowden. FSU baseball had a much better season, going 37-13 and winning the Metro championship. However, an automatic bid was not attached to that and the Seminoles were not among the 34 baseball teams in the NCAA Tournament field.
Missing the NCAA Tournament would not be the sendoff that anyone would want for legendary head coach Mike Martin nor was going 5-7 the start anyone would have hoped for first-year head football coach Willie Taggart. In an athletic year of new beginnings and heartfelt goodbyes for two of FSU’s three biggest men’s sports, fate is proving that it can be cruel.
Taggart will get a chance to right the ship on the gridiron, beginning on Aug. 31 as the Seminoles face Boise State in Jacksonville. Whether or not Friday’s contest against NC State in the ACC Tournament in Durham will be Martin’s last will be known on Monday.
Other Fun Facts
Oklahoma State is the first Big 12 opponent that FSU softball has faced in the NCAA Tournament since 2014.
FSU baseball has not gone winless at the ACC Tournament since 2013.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson. Like The Daily Nole on Facebook. To pitch an idea, author a post or to learn more about The Daily Nole, email Mike Ferguson at Mike@TheDailyNole.com.
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