FSU Basketball returns from COVID pause with 2 of 3 games against ranked foes

Soon after its second COVID-relevant pause of the year, the No. 17 Florida Point out men’s basketball team returned to apply Tuesday with eyes concentrated on a 7 days of games with important ACC and postseason seeding implications.

The Seminoles, who are 10-3 over-all and 6-two in the Atlantic Coastline Conference, final performed on Jan. thirty in Atlanta. They are scheduled to return to motion Saturday from traveling to Wake Forest before hosting No. 9 Virginia on Monday and No. eighteen Virginia Tech the next Saturday.

It will be FSU’s initial games from all 3 opponents.

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FSU senior guard RayQuan Evans drives earlier this season against North Carolina.
FSU senior guard RayQuan Evans drives before this year from North Carolina. (Mike Olivella/FSU Sporting activities Info)

Though the Demon Deacons are enduring a sub-par year (5-eight, two-eight in the ACC), the Cavaliers sit atop the meeting standings at thirteen-3 and 9-one, and the Hokies come in suitable at the rear of Florida Point out at 14-four and eight-3.

In the mind of Seminoles head mentor Leonard Hamilton, that challenging slate could be just what his players need to have.

“I imagine the harder your opponents are coming out of any pause is good,” Hamilton claimed. “It will get you concentrated, and you know that you have no room for mistake. So I am genuinely content that we have 3 games in a 7 days … that’s normally good for us. It normally will get the consideration of your players.”

With nearly a month remaining in the standard year, the ACC race is still wide open up. Virginia, FSU, Virginia Tech and Louisville all have 3 or less ACC losses, and North Carolina and Ga Tech sit just at the rear of them with 4.

With a solid return to motion, the Seminoles could set them selves in primary place to contend for a second consecutive standard-year meeting championship and No. one seed in the ACC Event.

Unless just one or far more of the Seminoles’ postponed games is additional to the conclusion of the timetable, FSU’s final 4 contests after Virginia Tech will come from Miami, North Carolina, Boston Higher education and Notre Dame. Though 3 of individuals games will be on the road, only just one (UNC) will come from a team projected to make the NCAA Event.

Notre Dame, Miami and BC are a blended 9-24 in the meeting.

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FSU projected as No. 5 seed in NCAA tourney

With just a few months remaining in the standard year, FSU is presently projected by higher education basketball analysts to be a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Event. The Seminoles had been slotted there this 7 days in mock brackets by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the NCAA’s Andy Katz and CBS’ Jerry Palm.

Lunardi and Palm each have the ACC sending 6 teams to the Large Dance — Virginia, FSU, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Louisville and Clemson. Katz has Ga Tech also receiving a berth in a enjoy-in recreation, which would give the league seven teams.

A solid finish to the standard year would certainly elevate the Seminoles’ seeding. Katz has Virginia as a No. two seed, although Lunardi has the Cavaliers at No. 3 and Palm has them at No. 5.

Virginia Tech is in fact the optimum-seeded ACC team in Palm’s bracket he has the Hokies at No. four.

ACC powers Syracuse, Duke and Notre Dame would have to make a solid thrust in the final month to receive solid NCAA thought. The Orange are eleven-6 and 5-5, the Blue Devils are 7-eight and 5-6, and the Irish are eight-10 and 5-7.

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