Update: FSU makes a noticeable entrance into the AP and Coaches Polls, going from unranked to No. 17/19, respectively. But check out Michigan— from unranked to 4/5. Florida dropped out of each.
Last week, Florida State hoops came just two points shy of cracking the AP top-25. That should change— and as far as the Seminoles are concerned, for the better. On Saturday night, the ’Noles (7-1) secured the Emerald Coast Classic title, wrapping up a 3-0 week that included some impressive victories.
Monday’s trouncing of Chicago State was expected. Then again, No. 1 Duke was a 31-point home favorite against Stephen F. Austin and lost; so there’s something to be said for taking care of business.
FSU then went on to record neutral-site wins over No. 17 Tennessee and a nearly ranked Purdue team that KenPom currently has as the No. 13 team in the country. Add those Ws to Florida State’s road win over then sixth-ranked Florida, and the Seminoles have already put together quite a nice postseason résumé.
And now national voters should acknowledge as much. The ’Noles ought to be ranked when the updated polls come out later today, and we’ll update this piece when those polls are released.
Who’s ripe for passing? In addition to the Blue Devils, top-10 squads Michigan State, North Carolina, and Gonzaga all lost as well, but they’re likely too highly ranked to be caught by FSU at this point. No. 11 Oregon went 1-2, but both losses were to top-10 teams, and the win came against No. 13 Seton Hall.
No. 12 Texas Tech is another story. The Red Raiders lost to a pair of unranked teams in Iowa and Creighton. No. 15 Utah State played just once, losing to unranked St. Mary’s (but the Gaels could be on the verge of a ranking as well).
Naturally, you can make a case for Florida State to jump the Vols team it just beat, even though UT did rebound to beat No. 20 VCU on Saturday. But earlier in the week, Tennessee scored just 58 points while topping Chattanooga by only 12— the same Chattanooga squad that FSU pummeled 89-53.
Speaking of VCU, the Rams went 1-2, beating Alabama State but losing to the Boilermaker and Volunteer teams that the Seminoles just bettered. And then there are those teams that didn’t lace ’em up at all this week: No. 19 Baylor and No. 23 Washington.
Like the ’Noles, Michigan deserves a ranking, too. The Wolverines are 7-0, ranked No. 10 per KenPom, and just won the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas with wins over Iowa State, No. 6 UNC, and No. 8 Gonzaga.
As far as Florida State’s KenPom rankings go, the Seminoles are currently No. 15 overall, with the country’s No. 53 offense and No. 3 defense. Only Virginia and Ohio State have higher ranked Ds than FSU.