The big question for Florida State coming into Selection Monday was whether they would be rewarded by the committee with a four seed and enjoy home games for the first and second rounds. Unfortunately for FSU they will not be able to stay at home for the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. The Noles will head to College Station, Texas to play on the home court of the four seed Texas A&M Aggies in the Dallas region.
FSU was handed a five seed by the committee. It looks like Florida State was the #17 team on the S-curve which means that they were one spot from getting tournament home games. It also means that if they can get to the Sweet 16 in Dallas they would play the fourth #1 seed in Baylor. Of course there is a lot of basketball to be played before FSU can think about the Sweet 16. If any one thing cost the Seminoles home games it would probably be a lack of big wins. FSU only has two RPI top 25 wins and they were both against (#25) Miami. They have six top 25 losses.
Middle Tennessee State (24-8) is the champion of Conference USA. The Blue Raiders are ranked #59 in the RPI and #76 by Sagarin. MTSU is on a six game winning streak. FSU will play against MTSU in the first round on Saturday, March 19 at 1:30pm (ESPN 2). Sagarin has FSU as a 15 point favorite against MTSU.
We will have more on this game (and tournament) later in the week.