For Florida State fans, beating the rival Florida Gators is always fun. With that said, the last 2-plus weeks have provided a plethora of in-state bragging rights for fans of the garnet and gold.
Thanks to a masterful effort from last season’s hero, Dwayne Bacon and a double-double from Terance Mann, FSU’s men’s basketball team held off No. 21 Florida at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Sunday afternoon, 83-78.
The victory on the hardwood not only marked the third straight victory for FSU over the Gators in men’s hoops, but the fourth head-to-head athletic victory over its rivals in a 15-day span.
The first and most celebrated of those came at Doak Campbell Stadium on Nov. 26 as the Seminoles beat Florida for the fourth straight year on the gridiron, 31-13. FSU was fueled by nearly 250 yards on the ground and a defense that held the Gators without an offensive touchdown and just more than 200 total yards for the evening.
FSU’s victory on the hardwood on Sunday night came just three days after the FSU women blasted the Gators at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center by a score of 83-58. The win for the Lady Noles came after a meltdown late last season in an 82-72 loss in Gainesville.
Leticia Romero led five Seminoles in double-figures with 21 points while Ivey Slaughter recorded a double-double. Florida entered the game ranked 23rd in the country, but as was the case for the men’s team on Sunday, the loss bounced the Gators from the polls.
The next loss mentioned for Florida to the Seminoles may have been the most heartbreaking. In the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament on Dec. 3 in Gainesville, FSU rallied from a 2-set deficit to win the final three sets and end Florida’s season.
The Gators came in as the No. 11 national seed and had defeated FSU in Tallahassee earlier in the year, but Melanie Kiel’s service ace in the decisive fifth set lifted the Seminoles to victory.
Overall, for this academic year, the Seminoles are 4-3 against Florida in head-to-head team sports. Aside from the volleyball loss on Sept. 14, both the FSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were defeated by the Gators in October.
While the two schools are done competing for the 2016 calendar year, things are sure to ramp up in the spring as both the Seminoles’ and Gators’ baseball and softball programs should be among the best in the land.
Though FSU won in football and men’s basketball last season, the four victories in just over a 2-week span is more than the Seminoles had across the board athletically against Florida all last academic year. As FSU fans and alumni will tell you, it’s always good to be a Seminole, but beating up on the Gators the last couple weeks has been extra sweet.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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