Florida State defeated Virginia Tech on Tuesday night to clinch a top-4 seed in the ACC Tournament. According to experts, it also put the Seminoles in a position to secure a top-4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
FSU rallied from 14 points to top the Hokies in overtime 73-64 on Tuesday night to notch an 11th win in 12 games. Prior to that, Florida State managed to grind out a 78-73 victory over NC State on Saturday.
With the exception of NBC Sports’ Dave Ommen, all bracket projections this week are updated with FSU’s big win in consideration. Four of the five experts currently have the Seminoles as a No. 4 seed.
Projections
ESPN: West Region No. 4 vs. (13) Hofstra in Hartford (March 6)
CBS Sports: West Region No. 4 vs. (13) New Mexico State in Salt Lake City (March 6)
SB Nation: No. 4 seed in Hartford, 15th overall (March 6)
NBC Sports: West Region No. 4 vs. (13) Vermont in Hartford (March 4)
USA Today: Midwest Region No. 5 vs. (12) Arizona State/TCU in Jacksonville (March 6)
Summary
The lone publication surveyed that did not put Florida State as a No. 4 seed was the USA Today duo of Scott Gleeson and Shelby Mast, which puts FSU as a No. 5 in the Midwest Region in Jacksonville against the play-in winner of Arizona State and TCU. The Seminoles have never played the Sun Devils on the hardwood.
FSU and TCU actually met in the No. 5 vs. 12 match-up in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, but in that case, it was the Horned Frogs who were the higher seed. The Seminoles won the game in Oklahoma City, 96-87. TCU did win the last match-up between the schools in Corpus Christi in November 2004.
All other experts put Florida State as a No. 4 seed and for three of them, in the West Region. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi matches the Seminoles up with projected Colonial Athletic Association champion and No. 13 seed Hofstra. The Pride defeated FSU 82-77 in the Virgin Islands in the first match-up in more than 40 years early in the 2015-16 season. The Seminoles had won the previous three meetings.
Both Lunardi and Ommen have FSU bound for Hartford. Ommen pits FSU against projected American East champion Vermont. FSU won the only prior meeting 76-67 in the Vermont Classic on Dec. 30, 1976.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has FSU headed to Salt Lake City for a match-up with projected WAC champion New Mexico State. The Seminoles and Aggies have no prior meetings.
SB Nation’s Chris Dobbertean had FSU as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest facing either Temple or Alabama in Hartford in his Tuesday projection, but in his latest piece for Blogging the Bracket from Wednesday, Dobbertean has the Seminoles as a No. 4. No match-up is listed, but his list of No. 13 seeds consist of aforementioned New Mexico State, Hofstra and Vermont in addition to projected Conference USA champion Old Dominion. The Monarchs beat FSU 80-76 in double-overtime in the only previous match-up in January of 1979.
FSU wraps up the regular season on Saturday at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons nearly shocked Duke in Durham on Tuesday night, but with an overall record of just 11-18, they do not appear in any bracket projection.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
Mike Olivella/FSU athletics 
You must be logged in to post a comment Login