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What is an “8-seed gulf game”? The answer is a million times less complicated than you might think. The difference in seeds — a gulf — is eight. That’s it. The Florida State Seminoles have made a long journey over the past two seasons, and in some ways, it began with the sting of disappointment.
Florida State won an 8-seed gulf game in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, but the Seminoles were the lower seed in that instance against Xavier. FSU was a 9 seed, Xavier a 1 seed.
The last time Florida State was the higher seed in an 8-seed gulf game, the year was 2017. FSU carried a 3 seed into the round of 32 against 11th-seeded Xavier. Chris Mack devoured Leonard Hamilton that day. Mack has been terrific in March as the coach of lower-seeded teams, but for whatever reason, he hasn’t excelled as the coach of a higher-seeded team.
Leonard Hamilton has been much the same at Florida State.
Hamilton made the Sweet 16 in 2011 as a No. 10 seed, then the Elite 8 last year as a 9 seed. Conversely, Hamilton endured that 11-over-3 upset in 2017 — losing by 25 points as the higher seed in an 8-seed gulf game — and he also lost before the Sweet 16 as a 3 seed in 2012. Hamilton and FSU lost in the round of 32 to Cincinnati and a coach, Mick Cronin, who has had a notoriously hellish time getting to the Sweet 16. Cronin has historically struggled to escape the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, but when he faced Hamilton, he broke through seven years ago.
Therefore, with all of that as prelude, it was not a given — not at all — that Florida State would crush Murray State in an 8-seed gulf game on Saturday in Hartford. Florida State was seeded fourth, Murray State 12th… but if you saw Ja Morant and the Racers run wild against Marquette in a blowout 12-over-5 upset in the round of 64 on Thursday, you knew Murray State had the ability to light up the scoreboard.
Florida State lost as a 3 to an 11 by 25 points two years ago. For past Florida State teams — including the ones Hamilton guided to a No. 3 seed — this occasion against Murray State would have been a wobbly-knee, sweaty-palm moment.
Past Florida State teams would have fumbled and stumbled their way through this game, getting tight at the offensive end of the floor and being hampered by nervous energy.
The 2019 Seminoles are not “past” FSU teams. They are living in the present moment. They have put the past and its scarring basketball memories behind them.
Florida State could not have been more businesslike, more conspicuously calm, more markedly patient than it was against Murray State. Players made the extra pass. They didn’t take the bait when Murray State dared them to shoot quick threes. They drove and dished and dunked. They surveyed the floor. They constantly passed up decent shots in order to create better shots. They “got it.” They understood what they needed to do and how to do it.
Florida State didn’t have to depend on its late-game toughness or crunch-time resolve.
The Seminoles won this game well before the final buzzer.
The new, responsible Florida State basketball team has made consecutive Sweet 16s, but whereas last year’s team made an incredible comeback in the latter portions of the second half to rescue what had been a choppy performance, THIS team in 2019 created a masterclass against a highly skilled and athletic opponent which ran Marquette out of the gymnasium two days earlier.
At every step, at every point, Florida State basketball has changed over the past seven weeks. The identities and inclinations you always thought you could expect from the Seminoles (for better or worse) have been smashed by this new-look team with a fresh approach and a calmer demeanor.
This time, Florida State — seeded eight spots higher in the round of 32 — dished out a beating instead of taking it.
The 2017 Xavier demon was avenged last year against the Musketeers in the second round.
That Xavier demon was not merely avenged on Saturday, but fully expunged.
Everything is new at Florida State.
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