Enjoying a relatively surprising season, Florida State earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament after upsetting No. 1 North Carolina in the Semi-finals of the ACC Tournament last Saturday. Led by fifth year senior Toney Douglas, who led the ACC in scoring with 23.3 points per game, the Seminoles went 10-6 in conference play and lost in the ACC Championship game to Duke.
Overrated?
Some would say the Seminoles are a tad overrated. Florida State went 11-2 in its non-conference schedule, but only beat one NCAA Tournament team (Cal), while losing to Northwestern and Pitt.
10-6 in the ACC is good, but not overwhelming. The Seminoles beat the teams they should have beat and lost to ones they should have lost to. Their best win came at No. 10 Clemson, but they also fell at Miami. Florida State did not have to play at Maryland or at North Carolina. The schedule was in their favor.
There's no doubt Florida State was bumped up to a No. 5 seed because of its win over North Carolina last weekend, but Ty Lawson did not play and the Seminoles came back with a poor effort against Duke in the Championship game.
Underrated?
Some would argue that Florida State's non-conference schedule was actually impressive. The Seminoles beat Cincinnati and Florida. They also played Pitt tough, losing 56-48 at home.
Those that think the ACC is more than just top-heavy would also laud Florida State's wins at Virginia Tech and at home against Maryland. Also, most of the Seminoles losses were close games. They lost to North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest by a combined nine points.
Player you probably know about
Toney Douglas - #23, Sr. G
Toney Douglas is the reason why Florida State is 23-9 and a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He is the only player on the team to average double figures and he hasn't scored less than 22 points since the 'Noles loss at Boston College Feb. 24.
Player you will want to know about
Luke Loucks - #3, Fr. G
Loucks is a product of Clearwater High School in Florida where one of his volunteer coaches was Pete Olson, the former Madison La Follette head coach who won two Wisconsin state titles before retiring in 1993.
Loucks is among a number of players who average single digits while supporting Douglas. He averages 3.2 points per game while playing 17.3 minutes.
How to beat Florida State
The Badgers need to contain Douglas, which won't be easy. The same was said about Stephen Curry last year when he scored 33 points to lead Davidson past Wisconsin in the Sweet 16. But Curry's supporting cast was probably better than Douglas'.
Florida State lost plenty of games this season when Douglas played well. He scored 30 in a loss at Miami and 32 in a loss against North Carolina. Douglas can go off and the Badgers could still win, but if Wisconsin can keep him around 20 points, UW's chances of winning will be much better.