A perennial Sweet 16 team of late, FSU looking for more entering clash with Michigan

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Florida State has established itself as a Sweet 16 mainstay of late.

The FSU men's basketball team is one of just three teams that has won at least two games and advanced to the Sweet 16 in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments along with Gonzaga and Michigan.

Had last year's tournament not been canceled, it's extremely likely this would be the Seminoles' fourth straight Sweet 16.

They have established a level of postseason consistency unlike any in program history under their "New Bloods" moniker.

Maybe that's why FSU didn't have much of a celebration at all after beating Colorado Monday to advance to another Sweet 16. Next to programs like Arkansas that snapped a 25-year Sweet 16 drought this year or Cinderella teams no one expected to make it this far like No. 15 seed Oral Roberts, FSU doesn't feel like it has accomplished its main goal yet.

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That starts Sunday at 5 p.m. on CBS when the No. 4 seed Seminoles (18-6, 11-4 in ACC) face the No. 1 seed Michigan Wolverines (22-4, 14-3 in Big Ten) in an East Region Semifinal with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

"After the (Colorado) game in the locker room, there wasn't any chairs throwing, any water. We just took it as one game at a time and we haven't finished yet, we haven't won it yet, which is our ultimate goal," FSU center Balsa Koprivica told the Democrat.

"Maybe 10, 15 years ago, that would have been a bigger deal for us, but I feel like we've been creating the type of culture that it's kind of what we expected. We still haven't finished our job. I feel like if we keep playing defense like we did, we have a pretty good chance at it."

FSU's recent runs in the NCAA Tournament mean that a decent portion of its current roster has been here before and knows what to expect.

Senior guard M.J. Walker will become the first player in program history to play in three Sweet 16s when the Seminoles take the court against Michigan.

Redshirt juniors Anthony Polite, RaiQuan Gray and Wyatt Wilkes played during FSU's 2019 Sweet 16 run and were there in person for the team's Elite Eight run in 2018 while they were redshirting.

"You know the old adage that we've heard throughout history is success breeds success. The Bible talks about iron sharpening iron," FSU associate head coach Stan Jones told the Democrat.

"When you have a guy like M.J. Walker who, for whatever criticism people want to give him, he's a young man that's the first player who's ever played significantly in three Sweet 16s or beyond in his (FSU) career. Him being able to show preparation for that, him to be able to talk to his team about that. 

"You also have the RaiQuan Grays, the Wyatt Wilkes, the Anthony Polites who even if they redshirted at the first one they went to, they've been on that bench, they've been in the preparations, they've seen the excitement, they know the schedule you have when you're at the playing sites. That's invaluable to have that kind of experience on your roster."

FSU's mix of efficiency at both ends of the court, experience and size has made the team a trendy pick by some prominent analysts to potentially continue its run this week.

"The team is incredibly dangerous. As we said for months, they could be a Final Four team and then once we saw their path, yeah, I think they can be a Final Four team and they can get themselves to that place," ESPN college basketball analyst Dalen Cuff told the Democrat.

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"It's not going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. Michigan is a really good team and on the other side of that bracket, if it's Alabama, who I think likely would be their (Elite Eight) opponent, that's a really difficult matchup as well. But they have offensive talent, they have a bunch of different guys that can hurt you...

"There aren't many college teams that can go that deep into their roster, that can have big impacts with players down the line. I think we've seen that from Florida State for years and that's become one of their calling cards, along with their length, athleticism."

FSU enters the game against Michigan two wins away from its second Final Four appearance in program history and its first since 1972. The Seminoles were one win away from ending that drought three years ago, but fell, fittingly, to Michigan in the Elite Eight.

Walker is the only current Seminole who played in that game, scoring two points with two rebounds and three steals in eight minutes. The only current Michigan player who got into that game three years ago is senior forward Isaiah Livers, who is sidelined indefinitely due to a stress fracture in his foot suffered during the Big Ten Tournament.

"I'm sure that we were extremely disappointed when we lost to Michigan a few years ago. We haven't discussed it. It's not something that we are harping on," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said.

"If we need to have the revenge factor as a motivator being in the Sweet 16, with the opportunities we have available, then I think we are kind of cheating ourselves. We're focused on the right reason. We've got a lot of respect for them. They are a different team, we are a different team...

"We are anxious to play. They represent an outstanding team, a tremendous university, great, great tradition and they are well coached and loaded with talent. That's all the motivation we need."

Hamilton helped Kentucky win a national championship as an assistant coach in 1978, but has never made a Final Four in his first 32 years as a collegiate head coach. This is his fifth Sweet 16 appearance as a head coach and he's looking for his second Elite Eight appearance.

The Final Four, obviously, is the next major milestone Hamilton and the program will look to achieve. But he's well aware that there are still a number of steps left in that process and that looking ahead is a dangerous precedent.

"Every team in America started the season out wanting to be standing on that ladder at the end saying we're number one. I think we're just driven by, like all the other teams, wanting to get that elusive number one position," Hamilton said.

"Getting to that Final Four represents a certain level of success that everyone is trying to get to. But what we're trying to do is just worrying about that which we can control and that's preparing ourselves for the next game, the next practice. That's how you put yourself in the best position to win. If you put all the pressure on you to do something that's two or three weeks from now, another week or so from now, then you're not going to do as well with the details that you have at hand."

No. 4 seed Florida State vs. No. 1 seed Michigan

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

When: Sunday, 5 p.m.

Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

TV/Radio: CBS/101.5 FM

Reach Curt Weiler at cweiler@tallahassee.com or follow him on Twitter @CurtMWeiler.

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