FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLES
Record: 18-2 (6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) AP ranking: 6 RPI: 5 Coach: Leonard Hamilton, 15th year, 296-189 (.610) Best win: 88-72 over Duke Worst loss: 89-86 to Temple Best stat: Over their 20 games to date, the Seminoles have outscored their opponents by a total of 148 points in the first half and 149 in the second. Best player: 6-foot-10 freshman Jonathan Isaac. Not only has Isaac produced a double-double in points and rebounds in his last three games, all against ranked opponents, but he leads the team in blocked shots - 1.5 a game - and hits 54 percent of his field-goal tries, 38.5 percent of his 3-pointers and 82.4 percent of his free throws. In short, a matchup nightmare for any team not part of the NBA. Can be dancin' in the desert if: If they can play as well away from home as they have in going 14-0 thus far in Tallahassee. Long, athletic and ridiculously deep with a dozen players averaging 10 or more minutes and no one averaging as many as 29, FSU could become a Final Four favorite by March, though Hamilton has never coached a team past the Sweet 16. Prediction: Elite Eight Coachspeak: "(FSU is) a team that is a very talented, athletic bunch. They have depth, leadership and seem to really love playing with each other. They lived in our paint. The constant pressure and depth just wears a team down." - Duke interim coach Jeff Capel after a 88-72 road loss to the Seminoles
The only time the Florida State Seminoles have advanced to the NCAA basketball tournament's Final Four, Richard Nixon was in his first term as president, America's "A Horse With No Name" topped the Billboard pop charts and "The Godfather" was beginning a very long run as box office king.
The year was 1972, then-future Georgia coach Hugh Durham was running the show at FSU and though the 'Noles fell to UCLA in that year's title game, their 81-76 loss was the closest anyone ever came to the Bruins in their 10 championship-game victories under coach John Wooden.
Yet despite that stirring success in only its second NCAA tourney appearance, FSU hasn't returned to college basketball's final weekend since.
Listen to Louisville coach Rick Pitino after his No. 13 Cardinals lost 73-68 at No. 6 Florida State (18-2, 6-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) on Saturday and it's easy to believe all that may be about to change, however.
"They're a great talent with great coaching," said Pitino, who's reached seven Final Fours with three schools and is the only coach to have won titles with two programs (Kentucky in 1996 and Louisville in 2013).
"They do a lot. They can beat you off the bounce one-on-one. They make their free throws. They have great shot-blocking ability and size. They have a lottery pick (freshman forward Jonathan Isaac). (Sophomore guard Dwayne) Bacon is a first-rounder. So there's really not a weakness."
And anyone doubting the sincerity of Pitino's praise need only check out FSU's last six games, which all came against ranked opponents. That six-pack produced five victories, the lone loss coming at North Carolina.
"I haven't seen a team like that in a very long time," Duke interim coach Jeff Capel said after suffering an 88-72 loss in Tallahassee. "Maybe those Arkansas teams back in the early (19)90s, but I haven't seen a team that can go 12 deep like Florida State. They are all athletic, have great size, and they all play with incredible energy."
All of them. The 6-foot-7 Bacon may lead the Seminoles in scoring at 17.4 points per game and the 6-10 Isaac may lead virtually every other statistical category - 7.8 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 82.4 percent accuracy from the foul line - but FSU coach Leonard Hamilton has an even dozen guys playing at least 10 minutes a game. Only Bacon (28 minutes) averages more than 26 minutes.
"I think this is the best team (Hamilton) has ever had, and I think better than the 2012 ACC championship team," Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams said after a 93-78 loss. "I think they can play a lot of different ways and have a lot of different options."
Samford coach Scott Padgett made a similar comment after an eight-point defeat at FSU.
"From 1 to 12, I don't know if anyone has 12 who are better," he said. "They might not have the best five, but the 12 are a pretty talented team. I have been joking about it and if you have ever seen 'Space Jam,' they look like the Monstars inside. I think they are going to have a really good season."
One of those "Monstars" played his high school ball at Tennessee Temple - 7-1, 304-pound graduate student Michael Ojo choosing the Seminoles in 2012 over Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, according to the FSU media guide.
Already owning a degree in international affairs, the 24-year-old Ojo plays a shade over 13 minutes a game and averages 5.3 points and 3.9 rebounds and is an obviously big reason why Southern Miss coach Doc Sadler said after a 98-49 loss to the 'Noles: "Their defense is so long, they can guard the points, and if you do break down they've got someone inside that is going to alter the shot."
If anything could alter the notion that FSU has a shot to win it all, it may be that 14 of its 18 wins have come at home, though it did shock Virginia on the road. Facing a three-game ACC road run of Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Miami beginning Wednesday night at Tech, the 'Noles must also yet travel to Duke and Notre Dame. Good as they've been to date, to be considered serious NCAA contenders, they need to prove the Virginia win wasn't a fluke.
Not that Hamilton, now in his 15th season at FSU, sounded overly concerned following the Louisville win, saying, "This team communicates with each other very well; they hold each other accountable; they like each other; there is really no drama with them."
With fiery junior point guard in Xavier Rathan-Hayes running an offense that committed just seven turnovers against Louisville, and all that depth and size and talent, Hamilton has at least a dozen reasons to believe the drama all comes in finding a way to stop the 'Noles.
"We've got a deep, deep team," Bacon said after the Duke win. "Just keep playing like we've been playing all year and we'll be fine."
They might wind up better than fine. They just might wind up in the Final Four for the first time in 45 years.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.