Last night was a disappointment for the Florida State Seminoles as their bubble was popped by being selected by the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), instead of the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles received the number one seed in the NIT, and will face off against former NCAA tournament’s Cinderella, The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles 22-12 (14-4). The Seminoles 19-13 (9-9) had two opportunities late in the regular season to reserve a seat for themselves in the NCAA tournament; however, the Seminoles were completely outmatched against the ACC champions Virginia, and the top ten ranked Syracuse Orangemen.
The Seminoles welcome the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles into the Donald L. Tucker Center, for the first time ever. Florida State has never won the NIT, and it will not be an easy task this time as the Seminoles will have to go through the Eagles on Tuesday night at 7:00 Est. If the Seminoles are victorious, they will battle the winner of West Virginia and Georgetown.
The Seminoles could be without Senior point guard Ian Miller for this game as he was unable to practice this Monday due to an injured toe. If Miller cannot play, the Seminoles will be without their second leading scorer. Miller averages 13.7 points per game and tends to shoot just under 40% from the three point line.
Last year, the Seminoles were a four seed coming into the NIT and fell to Louisiana Tech in the first round of the tournament. This year, the Seminoles are looking to show everyone in the nation why they should have been picked to compete in the NCAA tournament.
References
Edited by: Heather Ahles
NIT Bracket
Picture by FGCU athletics
and fansided
Last ;year's "one and done" should be motivation enough but another well-deserved snubbing by the NCAA selection committee may also get the Nole's attention. The bigger question is what does the future hold for Seminoles basketball? Does Leonard have any hope that next year's team will be any better than this year's?
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