FSU lands top-four seed in selection committee’s preliminary bracket

For the first time ever, the NCAA Tournament selection committee offered preliminary look at their current top sixteen teams four weeks ahead of Selection Sunday which will occur on March 12th.

This normally would not be applicable to Florida State as the Seminoles are more of a perennial bubble team than a squad consistently in contention for a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament

This year, however, FSU is off to a 21-4 (9-3 in ACC) start and very much in the conversation nationally. The Seminoles were projected as a two or three seed by most bracketology projections entering Saturday, but where would the committee put the Seminoles just over a month out?

When the preliminary bracket was unveiled, the Seminoles were announced as the two seed in the Midwest Region, the No. 6 overall team. This put them one spot behind North Carolina, the No. 5 overall, and one spot ahead of Louisville, the No. 7 overall seed.

In the 64-team era, FSU has been a three seed on three separate occasions, but the Seminoles have never entered March Madness as a two or one seed.

In the Midwest Region along with Florida State are No. 1 seed Kansas (No. 2 overall team), No. 3 seed Arizona (No. 9 overall), and No. 4 seed Duke (No. 16 overall). It was not announced where FSU’s first and second round matchups would be, but the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds would be located in Kansas City, Missouri.

The No. 6 overall spot, significantly above FSU’s spot at No. 14 in this week’s AP poll, is hard to argue with the Seminoles 8-1 mark against teams in the top 50 of the RPI rankings. The wonder now shifts to how much it may take to steal a spot as the top seed of a region. A strong finish to the regular season or a lengthy run at next month’s ACC Tournament in Brooklyn would go a long way towards moving the Seminoles into the conversation for a No. 1 seed. That begins with Saturday’s matchup at Notre Dame.