Noles News: Top-25 wins and losses, AD Alford expresses concern for Florida State’s role in ACC

The ebb and flow of the football offseason are in full effect, shining not only light on other sports but offering a chance to dig a little deeper into what is going on inside Tallahassee. Baseball is off to a massive start, basketball put Miami in its place yet again and softball continued on its journey to sustain national prominence.

Let's dive into everything in Seminole athletics.

Football

There has been a recent push and attention drawn to the Grant of Rights that Florida State and the ACC are regarding when and how the Noles will be able to renegotiate or settle such an unfavorable deal.

Florida State Athletic Director Michael Alford spoke on the matter last week, expressing his concern for the future of the college athletic landscape and where FSU sits in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Tomahawk Nation’s Jon Loesche and Perry Kostidakis wrote about the matter with much of the discussion still up in the air; voice your opinions in the article comments section below.

Basketball

In one of the most remarkable comeback wins history can afford, the Florida State Seminoles (9-20, 7-11 ACC) announced that rivalries would never die when sophomore guard Matthew Cleveland sank a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to upset the No. 13 Miami Hurricanes (23-6, 14-5 ACC) 85-84 on Saturday.

Cleveland played a major role in knocking off the Hurricanes, scoring 20 points with five rebounds in the victory, which saw the Noles come back from a deficit that most fans watching thought to be insurmountable.

Florida State is set to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels Monday, February 26th, at 7:00 p.m. inside the Tucker Center.

The No. 23 women’s squad (23-8, 12-6 ACC) dropped their game over the weekend to the Clemson Tigers (16-14, 7-11 ACC) 74-61. Mikayla Timpson led the team with 17 points and ten rebounds, followed by Sara BedJi, who notched 12 points on the day for the Noles.

Florida State will be the five seed in the ACC Tournament. FSU will play the winner of the Wake Forest/Virginia game on Thursday at 11 am. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.

Baseball/Softball

Baseball clenched the series against an error-laden No. 8 TCU Horned Frogs team over the weekend but proved that the Link Jarret era is off to a hot start. The Noles went 2-1 in Texas and are now 6-1 on the season after road wins against the Jacksonville Dolphins and a series sweep against James Madison.

No. 6 softball stayed undefeated on the weekend, closing out the Unconquered Invitational against Lamar and Troy. Their first game against Lamar ended in an 11-3 victory, and FSU finished with a 2-1 win over Troy.

FSU will host the Dugout Club Classic next Friday, March 3rd, with UMass, Colgate, and Georgia Southern.

All Sports

Women’s tennis (6-4, 1-1 ACC) defeated Boston College on Sunday 5-2 to lead off with their first ACC victory of the 2023 spring season.

From Seminoles.com:

The Seminoles swept doubles, taking the 1-0 lead. Vic Allen and Kianah Motosono gained the edge with a dominant 6-3 win at No.1. Olympe Lancelot and Ellie Schoppe clinched the point behind a 6-3 win at No. 3.

Florida State’s Anna Arkadianou and Millie Bissett finished doubles play with a 6-3 win.

The No. 2 ranked Seminole beach volleyball started off their season 5-0 after taking down two ranked teams in their annual Beach Bash.

16th-ranked FIU fell to the Noles, 1-4 alongside 19th-ranked South Carolina 4-1.