Florida State Basketball: 2023-24 season preview for the Seminoles

Final thoughts

In the past two years, the Florida State program has trended in the wrong direction. Last year was a low for the Seminoles under Leonard Hamilton, one that can’t be repeated if the legendary coach wants to end his tenure – and career – on his own terms.

Florida State is often at its best when the cards are stacked against them, or when people least expect it. That should be true of this campaign, as the recent ACC preseason poll put the Seminoles in 11th place in the conference, ahead of only Boston College, Georgia Tech, Louisville, and Notre Dame.

The lack of elite players works against Florida State, though. They definitely have some players who are good, even great, without being elite. There’s also a handful of players that can break through in a major way, but odds are against all of them doing so.

The program is nearing its first inflection point in two decades. Hamilton has given no indication that he plans to retire and Florida State would be wise not to create ugliness by forcing him out so late in his career. But much of college basketball seems to be passing the Seminoles by.

Because of Hamilton’s track record, it feels like Florida State is due to improve more towards the mean. Still, considering how rough last season was, that still doesn’t seem like it will be anywhere close to an NCAA Tournament berth, which would be the third consecutive year without one for the program.

This will likely be another difficult year in Tallahassee for the Florida State Seminoles men’s basketball program.