So ESPN says that FSU is the most likely "giant" aka top seed to get knocked out early. Pomeroy has us losing in the first round to Wisconsin.When we beat anyone, it's because they were seriously flawed (Clemson) or undermanned (UNC).

In a nutshell, we get no respect.

But the truth is, the national media doesn' t really cover FSU basketball. You heard it in the announcing during the ACC championship. "FSU should have a significant advantage on the boards because of their height." If you'd followed FSU hoops at all this year, you know that our defensive rebounding is one of our biggest challenges. In other words, the national media hasn't done their homework on our hoops.

A lot of the computer programs base our ratings on our early season before we had Kitchen in the lineup and we had close games against mediocre/bad teams. I completely agree we should have beaten Jacksonville and Stetson by more than two. When we lost to Northwestern, we couldn't handle the press at all. We were young, disorganized and confused. But this is a different team now.

Our advantages are defensive intensity, depth, TD and our ability to make plays in close games down the stretch. We never fold up our tents and go home. We always make a run to get us back in the game. The only game in which we didn't compete was @ Wake Forest. Other than that, this team has played with determination and the belief that they can win every game. Overcoming the 19-pt deficit @Clemson is the premier example, but you saw it game after game.

I'm not going to downplay our problems. Turnovers and controlling our defensive glass are issues. One factor that I think hasn't gotten much attention is Uche's back injury. When he's healthy, he provides a solid big with scoring potential that gives TD and Alabi a third wheel on offense.You could see it affected his minutes in the ACC tournament. Of course, the national media was too obsessed with Lawson's toe. Heck, he should have played. We would have had Demercy step on his foot once, and then he could have been out for the big dance. :)

But our positives far outweigh our shortcomings. when you watch our games, you have to remember that our games are never decided in the first half. We always have a second half run in us. And down the stretch, Alabi, Loucks, Dulkys (even Singleton) and especially TD +make+ plays.

I've watched or listened to every FSU bball game this year. I fully expect to see us reach Beantown to face whatever heavy-weights are there to meet us. Go Noles

NB1 The Big Ten is the only conference against which we have a losing record (0-1) this year. We can change that in our next game

NB2 FSU has yet to lose consecutive games this year and we lost our last one in the ACC championship game. Wisco had a *six* game losing streak early in Big Ten play.