Florida State (12-5) (NET: 66)
1-4 (Q1), 0-1 (Q2), 5-0 (Q3), 6-0 (Q4)
Things aren’t quite as dire as they feel in Tallahassee, but the Seminoles clearly have work to do if they’re going to get back into NCAA Tournament contention. Before this week, there was nothing of note on the schedule, with possibly Temple or Tulane standing out as their best victories. Wednesday saw that change, as Florida State won by double-digits at home over Pittsburgh, finally securing a Quad 1 victory.
For the most part, none of the losses have been too awful for Florida State. They’ve lost a pair of Quad 1 home games against Florida and Louisville while that Quad 2 loss was a tough performance at NC State in early December. This team has struggled with consistency, especially against stronger opponents, but at least there’s not a really bad loss on the resume.
Nobody thinks this team should be in the current field of 68 but Florida State has a chance to change opinions. At 3-3 in the ACC, there’s clearly a lot of work ahead and the Seminoles will need to add a few Quad 1 wins. Their NET and other analytics clearly need a boost, though that win over Pittsburgh was a great step in the right direction.
Right now, the Seminoles are hoping to get onto the bubble and they might need a nice winning streak in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, they don’t have another Quad 1 opportunity until a rematch at Louisville on February 22nd followed soon after by a trip to Duke. At this point it’s going to take a lot of wins, especially on the road against some of the weaker teams in this league, or there’s no shot at the Big Dance for this team.