FSU Athletic Year in Review: Noles Dominate Canes, Split with Gators

Florida State’s 2016-17 athletic year came to an end over the weekend as the USATF Track and Field Championships wrapped up. The Director’s Cup has not yet been awarded, but the Seminoles had an all-around solid year.

That was also the case against rivals. Across the board against Florida and Miami, FSU put up an impressive 17-13 record. Here’s a look at how FSU fared against each major in-state rival in head-to-head competition:

vs. Florida

The two most watched collegiate sports are football and men’s basketball and those are sports where the Seminoles continue to dominate their Gainesville counterparts head-to-head. FSU defeated Florida on the gridiron in Tallahassee back in November by a 31-13 score, which was the fourth straight Florida State victory in the series. FSU also beat Florida for a third straight time in men’s hoops back in December, 83-78.

While FSU has had success in those two sports, Florida continues to take the Seminoles behind the woodshed on the diamond. Eventual national champion Florida swept the regular season series in baseball for a second straight year and has won 15 of 18 overall against the Seminoles. In softball, the teams split with each team winning
at home and in its final at-bat.

FSU also took the only meeting between the schools in women’s basketball, women’s golf and men’s tennis. The Gators got the better of the Seminoles in both men’s and women’s swimming and diving.

The only other split to report was in volleyball, but in that case, Florida State got the last laugh. The Gators won the regular season meeting between the teams in Tallahassee, 3-1, but FSU ended Florida’s season by rallying from two sets down in the NCAA Tournament to win in Gainesville, 3-2.

Of Florida State’s seven victories over the rival Gators this past academic year, four took place in a 15-day stretch. That began with football on Nov. 26 and ended with men’s basketball on Dec. 11. In between were victories for women’s basketball and the aforementioned NCAA Tournament volleyball win.

vs. Miami

While FSU split head-to-head competition with Florida, the Seminoles dominated Miami by going 10-3. In football and men’s basketball, the Seminoles were a combined 3-0. In the Oct. 8 football contest in South Florida, FSU rallied from 10 points down in the second half to beat the Hurricanes for a seventh straight time, 20-19. The victory was preserved by DeMarcus Walker who blocked a Miami extra point in the final two minutes.

In men’s basketball, the Seminoles took both meetings. FSU won 75-57 on the road to open the month of February before concluding the regular season and a perfect home slate with a 66-57 victory on March 4 for Senior Day. The FSU women also swept Miami during the regular season, but the Hurricanes got revenge with a 56-54 victory in the ACC Tournament.

Volleyball was another sport where FSU swept the season series, winning in straight sets both in Coral Gables and Tallahassee. The teams split on the baseball diamond, because the third game of a 3-game set was canceled due to rain, although FSU fans may be quick to point out that the Seminoles were leading 2-0 early on and Miami made little effort to cover the field when the rains came.

FSU pitched shutouts over Miami in soccer and men’s tennis, winning 1-0 and 7-0, respectively. The lone sport where Miami got the better of Florida State was women’s tennis in which the Hurricanes defeated Florida State on Feb. 21 in Coral Gables by a 4-1 margin.

Overview

During the 2015-16 academic and athletic year, Florida State finished with a losing record against each of its two biggest rivals despite winning on the gridiron. This athletic year, FSU dominated Miami, winning the season series in six of the eight sports where the schools went head-to-head and splitting another.

While the 0-3 mark on the baseball diamond against Florida certainly hurts, FSU got the better of the Gators in five of the 10 sports in which the teams faced head-to-head and split in two others. Florida State was able to end the Gators’ volleyball title hopes, but Florida claimed national championships in men’s track and field, women’s tennis and baseball.

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