The jubilation of a big win over Miami was extinguished for Florida State on Wednesday night with a bad 76-72 loss at Wake Forest. For the season, the Seminoles are 16-6 and 5-5 in ACC play, but the stranglehold they once had on an NCAA Tournament berth could be dwindling with a tough stretch upcoming.
As of now, each of the four “bracketologists” we poll on a weekly basis have FSU in the tournament. Here’s a look at where they have the Seminoles pegged:
Projections
ESPN: Midwest Region No. 9 vs. (8) Butler in Detroit (Feb. 1)
CBS Sports: East Region No. 8 vs. (9) Missouri in Pittsburgh (Feb. 2)
SB Nation: Midwest Region No. 7 vs. (10) Butler in Nashville (Jan. 30); No. 9 seed, No. 35 overall (Feb. 2)
NBC Sports: West Region No. 8 vs. (9) Alabama in Los Angeles (Feb. 2)
Summary
Two of the three bracketologists have FSU facing Butler in their latest brackets. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has the teams meeting in the Midwest Region with FSU as the No. 9 seed and Butler the No. 8. Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation had FSU as a No. 7 and Butler as a No. 10 in the Midwest, but that was before Wednesday’s debacle at Wake Forest. In his latest piece, Dobbertean has the Seminoles as a No. 9 seed and with the 35th best resume’ overall.
The Seminoles and Bulldogs last met in the Diamond Head Classic in December 2010 with Butler winning, 67-64. Lunardi had the teams meeting in Nashville while Dobbertean had them destined for Nashville.
Both CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and NBC Sports’ Dave Ommen each have the Seminoles as a No. 8 seed. Palm pits FSU against ninth-seeded Missouri in the East Region in Pittsburgh. Ommen shows a match-up with No. 9 seed Alabama in Los Angeles.
The Seminoles took down Alabama in the Old Spice Classic in November 2009 in the last meeting between those schools, 60-51. Two of the prior three meetings with Missouri came on neutral courts with FSU winning the most recent meeting in Atlanta in December 1980, 68-64.
Upcoming this week for FSU is a trip to Louisville on Saturday and a home contest with No. 2 Virginia on Wednesday. Three of the four experts currently have the Cardinals as a No. 6 seed with Palm being the outlier as he pegged them a No. 7. Virginia is a current No. 1 seed across the board.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
Colin Abbey/FSU athletics
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