Florida State vs. Southern Miss: College basketball game preview, TV schedule

The Florida State Seminoles have one of the most difficult stretches in all of college basketball upcoming soon, but can they get the job done against Southern Miss first?

TV schedule: Thursday, Dec. 21, 2:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network

Arena: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Florida

The Florida State Seminoles have surprisingly only lost one game so far during the 2017-18 season, as they recently fell to the Oklahoma State Cowboys by just one point. With a 16 point win over in-state rival and then-No. 5 Florida, this team looks more than ready to make a run to the NCAA Tournament and is deserving of its top 25 ranking.

However, few teams in college basketball have a more difficult upcoming set of games, as the Seminoles will face the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils on the road, followed by the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels at home, and then the No. 6 Miami Hurricanes on the road. Talk about a trial by fire entering ACC play.

The good news is that Florida State does get a tune-up game with the Southern Miss Eagles at home.

Southern Miss has been, quite frankly, not very good so far this season. While they have looked alright against extremely weak opposition, any team that is halfway decent absolutely dominated the Eagles.

The Seminoles should win this one fairly easily, as Southern Miss has a single road win on the season to – wait for it – the winless Alabama A&M Bulldogs.

Next: 68 reasons to be excited for the college basketball season

Florida State should cruise to victory and head into the most difficult three-game run of any team in college basketball high on confidence.

Prediction: Florida State 80, Southern Miss 60