The Daily Nole

Tucker Center Has Become a True Home Court Advantage for FSU

Perrone Ford/FSU athletics

During head coach Leonard Hamilton’s tenure at Florida State, the Donald L. Tucker Center has been a dangerous place for ranked opponents to play. Through the years, FSU has had no problem upsetting the likes of highly-ranked Duke, North Carolina and Florida teams.

While fans turned out to watch big-time contests, they often stayed home for midweek games and non-conference contests against lesser opponents. That seems to be changing this season.

Wednesday night was the latest example as more than 9,400 turned out to watch the Seminoles defeat North Carolina State, 95-71. While the Wolfpack have some basketball tradition, N.C. State entered the contest with a record of 14-10 and just 3-9 in ACC play.

On Sunday, which also happened to be the day of the biggest sporting spectacle in the United States, nearly 11,000 showed up to watch FSU notch its largest margin of victory in ACC play ever. The opponent? The Clemson Tigers, who were just 13-8 at the time and 3-6 in ACC play.

One obvious reason for the uptick is that the home team is playing at a really high level. The Seminoles, with 21 wins, have already exceeded last season’s total and are ranked in the top 15 nationally. At 9-3 in conference play, FSU is also second in the ACC standings.

For the season, FSU is averaging 7,626 per game in home attendance, which would be the highest since the 2011-12 season. That’s also the last season that Florida State reached the NCAA Tournament.

The spike in attendance includes snoozers against the likes of Nicholls and Southern Mississippi mixed in. In ACC play, the Seminoles are getting more than 10,000 per contest.

Crowds can certainly energize a basketball team and that appears to be happening with Florida State this season. At the Tucker Center, the Seminoles are a perfect 16-0 this season, making them one of only 18 teams nationally who have yet to lose to their home floor. The only thing standing between FSU and its first undefeated home finish since the 1975-76 season are ACC bottom-feeder Boston College and rival Miami.

With only six games remaining before the start of the ACC Tournament, the Seminoles appear to be on the verge of their best season in perhaps decades, making it unsurprising that fans and students are more inclined to be a part of it. What remains to be seen is whether this will be a 1-year wonder or a continuing trend.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson

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