Tomahawk Nation

Official Florida State Spring Football Guide

2010-03-12T06:31:39Z

Lots of fluff and some inconsistencies, but a good first look from the University Office. They list Dawkins as a DE on the roster but as a DT in his Bio. And they omit bios for Luc, McCallister, and a few others while profiling guys who will never play a meaningful snap like Cam Wade. It appears that they are listing accurate heights now as well. Don't think we will see any more "Everette Brown 6'4" " type listings.

#5 Florida State Seminoles Baseball Team to Host #1 Ranked Virginia Cavaliers: Series Preview

2010-03-11T20:00:30Z

The Florida State Seminoles look to exact some revenge on a Virginia Cavaliers team that defeated them in the 2009 ACC Championship game en route to their first conference title since 1996. The 2010 Virginia squad comes into Tallahassee ranked #1 overall in the Baseball America rankings and 3rd overall in the CBI Composite Poll right behind a Seminoles team that is ranked 2nd.

UVA is an experienced squad that returns a ton of talent from last year's Omaha bound team and this weekend series will be Florida State's first true test of the year as they will see a combination of elite pitching and stellar hitting that rivals their own. This is the marquee matchup of the weekend if not the entire year so lets take a look and see what those on the national scene are saying.

Baseball America's Aaron Fitt

Question: With the opening weekend of the ACC coming up and a huge matchup of top 5 teams, Virginia @ FSU. Which team has more to prove here and who do you see winning the series?

Aaron Fitt: Virginia has more to prove - just look at all the detractors every week on this chat. People somehow don't think the Cavaliers are for real, even after their incredibly impressive run to Omaha last year (beating Strasburg, Irvine twice, Ole Miss in Oxford...) and the fact that they have nearly all the key pieces back from that team. Florida State is Florida State - that program is as rock-solid and established as it could possibly be. As good as I think Virginia is, you probably have to give FSU the edge at home this weekend - that's a really good team on any field, but at Dick Howser the Seminoles are incredibly difficult to beat. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Cavs go down there and hit a bunch of home runs to that short porch in right field and win that series. Virginia has lots of power, even though their home run numbers are depressed by their home field.

Yahoo Sports! Kendall Rogers

Question: I'm an LSU fan and I can understand why LSU isn't in the top spot based on their weak schedule so far, but I don't believe that Virginia is deserving. Why not some one like FSU who is also undefeated and has some better wins than UVA?
Kendall Rogers: Florida State has been extremely impressive so far this season, but a weekend series win over East Carolina on the road, which is in the top ten, is much more impressive to me than a home weekend series win over Georgia. Just my two cents.... would not have an issue with someone putting FSU ahead of Virginia. Just think Virginia is the more balanced team. The good news is we will have our answer after this weekend.

Question: FSU-UVA prediction?

Kendall Rogers: Giving me the nasty curveball on the outside corner already... I applaud you, sir. Give me Virginia two of three in a phenomenal three-game set.

Rogers also wrote a recent article on FSU Senior shortstop Stephen Cardullo - Florida State's Cardullo a perfect example

Inside we will breakdown pitching and hitting and give you insight into key matchups.

Pitching Preview:
There are many teams in college baseball that can hit but the teams that excel and usually make it deep into the playoffs are ones that can also pitch. Of the 8 teams that made it to Omaha in 2009, 6 of them ranked in the top 10 in ERA (ERA is an awful stat I know). To nobody's surprise last years FSU staff was bad while Virginia's was tops in the ACC and the nation as the stats below depict.

So what can we expect from these pitching staffs in 2010, lets look at the projected series starters.

Friday March 12th - 6 PM - Tallahassee, Fla - Radio: 1270 the Team/94.3 FM - GameTracker

Friday's matchup will feature two of the top pitchers in college baseball. FSU will send out 2009 Freshman Pitcher of the Year Sean Gilmartin while UVA combats that with 2009 Freshman Utility Player of the Year Danny Hultzen. Gilmartin had a great 2009 but as you can see below Hultzen absolutely dominated.

Game 1 should be a pitchers duel as both Sophomores have had stellar 2010 campaigns.

Both lefties will undoubtedly face the best lineups they have all year and perhaps their careers so that makes your guess as good as mine to the outcome of this game.

Saturday March 13th - 6 PM - Tallahassee, Fla - Radio: 100.7 FM - GameTracker

Saturday should feature Junior lefty John Gast versus Junior righty Robert Morey. It is hard to put much stock into Gast's 2009 stats has he was very limited in action and was coming off of Tommy John surgery.

Morey on the other hand had an excellent sophomore season giving UVA one of the most potent staffs in all of college baseball. 2010 has been much better for Gast while Morey has had command issues resulting in decreased strikeouts and increased walks, hopefully something a very disciplined FSU offense can take advantage of.

It is important to keep sample size in mind when looking at this years stats and both pitcher could easily revert back to the way they pitched in 2009 giving UVA an obvious advantage. If this matchup turns into a pitching duel I would give Florida State a slight advantage.

Sunday March 14th - 1 PM - Tallahassee, Fla - Radio: 1270 the Team/94.3 FM - TV - Sun Sports - GameTracker

While there is potential for games 1 and 2 to provide very little offensive output Sunday could turn into a slugfest. Both teams are in search of a number 3 starter, UVA due to the loss of Andrew Carraway to graduation and FSU due to the loss of Brian Busch from the starting rotation due to arm issues. The Seminoles send out Geoff Parker while the Cavaliers match him with JUCO transfer Cody Winarski. We don't have 2009 numbers for Winarski and let's try and forget what Parker did last year and look to what both pitchers have done in 2010.

Good thing for Winarski and Parker that their respective offenses score 11.6 and 13.6 runs per game every time they start. Neither pitcher has gone further than 5 1/3 innings this season and neither has faced lineups as strong as they will which could leave the results of this game in the hands of the bullpen.

Bullpen issues have plagued Seminole teams in years past but in 2010 it is one of the many bright spots and could be a decisive factor in determining who wins this series.

With roughly the same amount of innings pitched FSU has the clear advantage on UVA. The Cavalier bullpen is giving up almost 3 more hits per 9 and walking a full batter more. If starters get in trouble look for the Seminoles to utilize relievers Brian Busch and Tyler Everett who have allowed 1 earned run in 17 1/3 combined innings with a strikeout to walk ratio of 20:4. If the Cavaliers make it to the 9^th inning with a lead FSU will have to deal with closer Kevin Arico who has been nothing short of lights out, he has recorded 10 strikeouts and 0 walks in 7 innings pitched and is a perfect 4 for 4 in save opportunities.

Offense Preview:

It was said above that Virginia has probably the most balanced team in the nation. We will start off by comparing Florida State and Virginia's offense in ACC play last year.

As you can see UVA ranks at the top or near the top of every offensive category which is a major reason they were so successful last year. Why should FSU be so concerned with what Virginia did last year? Easy, they return all 10 starters from last year College World Series lineups, an astonishing 88.5% of the team's total 2009 at bats is back for 2010. As mentioned in a previous article the UF team we faced had only 40.5% and the UGA team had only 30%.

Here is what that UVA lineup has done so far in 2010 as compared with FSU and the rest of the Top 10.

The Florida State pitching staff is off to a great start but has come nowhere close to facing a lineup full of this much talent and experience. This early in the season it is extremely hard to predict how each pitcher and hitter will react to the elite competition and to predict who will win this series would be a complete shot in the dark. That being said whoever does win this series should be considered the best team in the nation.

GO NOLES

Florida State Spring Football Position Preview: Defensive End

2010-03-11T14:00:40Z

This is sixth in a multi-part series covering the position groups as Florida State begins Spring practice. Halfway through the Florida State Spring Position Preview Series! So far we've looked at Quarterbacks and Running Backs, Wide Receivers, Offensive Line, and Tight Ends/ H-Backs. Now we turn our eye towards the defense. There is no way to sugarcoat how bad FSU's defense was last season. Going straight by the numbers, FSU was 108th out of 120 teams nationally. Common sense, however, says that to go solely by aggregate yardage allowed is silly as it doesn't adjust for competition level. The advanced metrics account for opponent quality and they say FSU's defense was somewhere between 80th to 92nd out of 120. Of the 66 major conference teams, FSU was on the level (or worse than) only Louisville, Kansas, Indiana, Duke, Stanford, Kansas State, Iowa State, Illinois, and of course, Washington State. The last defenses to be this bad in ACC play were some of the mid-decade Duke teams. If you want more comparisons and perspective, check out Closing The Book On The 2009 FSU Defense.

Defensive Ends Coach Darin D.J. Eliot

Don't take this analysis as a slam of the former staff or players. But to understand a fix for something, we must first realize that it is broken and understand why it is broken. And to be clear, there were many causes for the poor defensive play. One of the main causes, however, was the play of the defensive ends under the direction of former defensive ends coach Jody Allen. I've covered this at length, but suffice to say that Allen was inexperienced and under qualified to coach defensive ends at the major college level. That he's now working at West Georgia should tell you something. Additionally, there were behind the scenes issues that made players not like him, or at the least struggle to trust him.

Enter coach Darin D.J. Eliot (at right). He's 33 and as we profiled in this story, came to FSU via Rice University. He came recommended by Texas DC (and former Saban DC) Will Muschamp and FSU DC Mark Stoops. He crushed his interview and was hired on the spot.

Additionally, Eliot has produced at least one All-Conference defender at every school where he has worked. Notably at his last stop:

At Rice, Eliot had oversight of the recruiting process; a challenge given the schools' stringent academic standards. He identified and developed two true freshmen defensive ends - Scott Solomon (63 tackles) and Cheta Ozougwu (61) - who led all CUSA linemen with 124 combined tackles in 2009. They teamed for 21 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.

As I profiled in the linked article, it is incredibly tough to get quality players to Rice. I normally would not call a relatively young coach like Eliot an upgrade, but Eliot brings much more experience coaching defense than Allen had in his entire career prior to arriving in Tallahassee.

In a recent interview, Eliot gave some of his philosophies. You can tell he is pumped to be coaching the elite athletes that roam the practice fields in Tallahassee.

Chief amongst those philosophies is to get bigger at the position. As I profiled in the 2009 off-season (Size Matters on Defense (Don't go small to beat the spread): Part 1 | Part 2), FSU's front-7 (DE/ DT/ LB) was woefully small. This directive to the defense came directly from Coach Fisher as he saw this problem and sought to address it via recruiting. For the first time in quite a while, FSU projects to have a front-7 of more than 1830 combined lbs. That is a huge deal as 1830 was the number identified as a commonality among most of the elite defenses. A large part of the improved size will come from the defensive end position- not only this year but increasingly so in the coming years. I know this because FSU recruited larger ends this time (275 lb guys), and projects to have seven 300 lb defensive tackles by 2011, meaning the larger tweener players recruited this year will be playing on the outside.

That increased size will go great with the increased emphasis on leverage. Leverage in this context means engaging a blocker, controlling him, and then shedding him. It is in direct contrast to what FSU's defensive ends did under Allen, which was to try to get around the blocker. Their acts actually made them incredibly easy to block as they frequently ran themselves out of the play. Playing with leverage requires a plan and requires good technique, with angles, footwork, and handwork. It difficult to play with leverage when the only thing a player is ever taught is a speed rush. Maintaining gap and lane discipline will be a huge step int he right direction from Florida State's defensive ends. Nole fans haven't seen that in a long time. The defensive ends are in for a huge culture shock. The culture shock of being actually coached by a defensive coach.

Part of FSU's problem was that the ends focused so much on speed speed speed that they abandoned all technique and leverage principles. And this bled into other areas. While the run defense was abysmal, the pass defense was terrible as well. FSU registered a sack on only 3.96% of pass plays it faced in conference! The 'Noles were the only team that didn't sack the quarterback at least once out of every 25 dropbacks. That was a historically bad performance. The 'Noles ends were predictable and while it was dumb to not use specific plays that would take advantage of FSU's defensive ends in 2008, it was downright reckless in 2009. And for the most part, teams did just that; taking advantage of the defensive ends with plays they knew would capitalize on their undisciplined, sloppy, ill-planned, poorly coached style. Because they were so focused on rushing the passer as if they had a 20 point lead, the defense didn't win the crucial battles on first and second down that set up the negative leverage offensive situation: an obvious passing down!

I have been unable to watch any Rice football, but given the size of Eliot's ends at Rice (large), their accomplishments, and the unlikelihood that they are amazing athletes, I am going to assume that they played their keys, focused on pad level, leverage, hand technique, footwork, gap/lane discipline, and didn't try to do things of which they were not asked to do, thus not opening up huge gaps for through which an opposing offense could run through. I expect him to have FSU's defensive ends do the same. And under no circumstances would I expect Fisher to tolerate playing a no-talent walk on for the sole purpose of spiting the other coaches from whom a coach feels alienated. So let's talk about those ends.

FSU's lone loss at the defensive end position is Kevin McNeil. McNieil had a bunch of talent but often struggled in the areas of work ethic, effort, and academics. Many did not expect him to be eligible for the season, but he surprised and made the grade. But he couldn't hang during the Fall semester and was ineligible for the bowl game. If McNeil had played to his potential he would have been a considerable loss. He didn't, however, and I do not expect that FSU will miss him.

Markus White

The Lone Senior

I really feel like Markus White (#98) was robbed of the opportunity to be great at Florida State by the lack of coaching provided to him in his first two seasons in Tallahassee. The JUCO transfer stands in at 6'4" 260 (per last season). He was a 5* recruit coming out of Butler CC (JUCO). White works hard and is a leader on the team. He's a mature guy who is just dying to be coached. The likely starter at strong-side end, White will likely continue to bulk up this off-season. He can reasonably get to 270 lbs and be the fulcrum for the 'Noles defense. While I don't think he will ever be a great pass rusher, but he could be a good rusher if he was taught some technique. If he has any shot to make the NFL, he must become a lot better against the run. As the strongside end he'll have the opportunity to do just that. I've given up on some of the defenders because I don't think they have talent, but I have not yet given up on Markus White. In addition to all the areas in which he must improve, it will also be on Markus to be a senior leader for the young defensive end group.

Brandon Jenkins

The Up & Comer

#49 Brandon Jenkins is a prospect for whom I have a lot of hope. He was a 4* defensive end recruit and enrolled early, meaning this will be Jenkins' second Spring practice as a 'Nole. Jenkins played some last season in limited duty and looked like a freshman. That is so say he has some moments in which he clearly showed his athleticism and some moments in which he looked lost. The 6'2" 245 lb Jenkins has very long arms which make him play like a taller guy.

With a new coaching staff and closed practices all predictions as to who will start are educated guess at this point, but Jenkins is my pick to start at the Weak-Side End position. It suits his frame better as he doesn't have to take on as many blockers and allows him to use his speed. Jenkins looks like a natural pass rusher and could be a Dwight Freeney type with his long arms and low center of gravity.

But before he can get out and rush the passer he will have to prove that he can play within the system and play the run. This analysis applies to all of the defensive players, but this Spring he needs to focus on adding good weight. 245 lbs for a defensive end is simply too small. Jenkins needs to try to be at about 255 lbs this year. That added bulk will help him against the offensive tackles who will likely outweigh him by 50-60 lbs. As with any young player, this sophomore will need to improve his recognition skills and achieve a greater understanding of the nuances of the defensive end position.

The Unknown Legacy

FSU fans will likely remember Dan Footman who played 6 seasons in the NFL and was a very good pro before blowing his knees. Now meet his son. Dan Hicks was a very unheralded recruit out of Mississippi for a number of factors, including playing for a low-profile school and breaking his foot during his senior year. But the 6'4" 250 lb Hicks is a very good athlete with the frame to add a ton of good weight. Did I mention he was a good athlete? How about winning the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.19? And he had a great ACT score if I remember correctly. Hicks was very raw coming in and has a late birthday (2 current FSU 2011 commitments are older than him). Because he was physically and a bit emotionally immature he redshirted last season. That's not a bad thing. Hicks was just young. At least he didn't waste a year of eligibility under coach Allen.

People who have seen Hicks workout rave about the progress he's made. I have no idea if he can play ball, but he is that piece of fine clay just waiting to be molded. If everything goes according to plan, Hicks turns into a multi-year starter as a 280 lb strongside defensive end. if he can be 260 lbs of mostly good weight this year that would be a major accomplishment considering how young his body was when he arrives last year. I don't expect much from Hicks this season, but if he makes good progress this Spring learning how to play the game and continuing to bulk up, he could give 10-20 meaningful snaps per game come fall. Who knows, maybe this quiet kid can make a lot of noise come Fall. It wouldn't shock me, but it would surprise me given how raw Hicks was both as a player and as an athlete just 7 months ago.

Working His Way Back From An Injury (Still?)

Up next is Jamar Jackson. Jackson is a member of the abysmal 2007 recruiting class. Rivals had him as a four star weakside defensive end (6th best WDE in the country). Jackson tore his ACL in 2007 and missed the entire season. By all accounts, he has not regained the quickness that he had coming out of high school. At 6'4" 245 lbs, he doesn't have the same wide-potential frame of a Dan Hicks or incoming freshmen like Bjoern Werner and Darious Cummings.

I'm not questioning Jackson's work ethic and have never heard anything to make me believe he gives less than 100%. But if he's not quick enough to play on the weak side and not strong/ bulky enough to play on the strong side, what role does he have on the team? There is little to no place on a team for upperclassmen who don't make significant contributions. And as a 4th year Junior that is exactly what Jackson is. Jackson's continued progress (or lack thereof) will be a major point of interest for myself. While Jackson probably has three years of eligibility left given the overwhelming likelihood that he would win his medical redshirt request, I'm not sure the final year or two will be spent at Florida State. Here's hoping he proves me wrong and shows that he is just a very slow healer.

Unrealized Potential

If you're sensing that FSU has a lot of young, raw talent at the defensive end position, you're correct. Redshirt Sophomore Toshmon Stevens is no exception. The 6'5" 230 lb weak side end is incredibly skinny but is also a natural pass rusher. Stevens redshirted as a freshman and then played some last season while battling injury. The major issue for Stevens is that he is incredible scrawny. His lengthy frame is just begging for some added muscle. At his weight he is a liability against the run and is useless except on obvious passing downs.

He needs to work on all of the things I previously listed for Brandon Jenkins. But because he is about 15 lbs behind Jenkins, I see him as more of a situational player this fall. If he can improve his run defense enough to not be a complete liability, he could find himself in on a few passing downs. Stevens needs to improve his consistency and most of that should come with increased reps (experience) and added strength. As it stands right now, his game is all speed and guessing. He is still pretty raw and if it becomes clear that he won't win the starting job, I would like to see the coaches come up with a specific situational plan for him to see how he handles it. If he does, maybe he can work his way into a major role by the 2011 season and really help Florida State. Stevens is not regarded as a bad apple and will be given every opportunity to give his meaningful contribution to the team.

This Spring will be a time of enormous learning and culture shock for the entire defensive end unit. Perhaps no position was as poorly coached as the defensive ends were. Getting rid of Allen was one of the most important steps that needed to be taken; not only from a X&O's standpoint, but also for team chemistry. I'm excited to see what a real defensive end coach can do with this crop of players.

*Keep in mind that both of the incoming defensive end recruits are expected to see action come this Fall.

Florida State Spring Football Position Preview: Tight End & H-Back

2010-03-10T21:38:31Z

Offensive Coordinator & TE Coach James Coley

This is fourth in a multi-part series covering the position groups as Florida State begins Spring practice. Florida State only lost 1 starter from its record-setting 2009 offense. That lone starter was WR Rod Owens. The 'Noles also lost only 2 backups in WR Richard Goodman and Guard Brandon Davis. Remarkably, FSU returns 11 of 12 starters and 10 of 12 reserves. With that returning depth, you might think that the Spring will be boring for the offense. Some off-season surgeries, however, will make things interesting and give the younger players a chance to step up and show their talent. So far we've looked at Quarterbacks and Running Backs, Wide Receivers, and the Offensive Line. Today we'll focus on the Tight Ends and H-Backs.

The tight ends are coached by James Coley, who was recently promoted to offensive coordinator. While most believe that promotion is simply for title and cash (Fisher will still run the show), Coley is a good offensive mind in his own right. Coley will retain his Tight End coach position as his role as offensive coordinator will be more geared to game planning and scouting. Coley continues to be Fisher's "eye in the sky", giving Coach Fisher the overhead view of what a defense is doing. He worked for Saban with the Miami Dolphins, has previously been an offensive coordinator at FIU, and is a beast of a recruiter.

And it is not easy to recruit tight ends to Florida State. The Noles have rarely had productive tight ends, largely because their talent base includes a ridiculous amount of star receivers. But FSU is looking to utilize the tight end a lot more often. FSU is preaching this on the recruiting trail and it produced results in the most recent class as FSU pulled in freakish athlete Will Tye from Connecticut and 6'6" Tank Sessions from outside of Atlanta.

But this is the Spring preview, so I'll discuss those two players in the fall preview come August. For now, let's discuss what players are here for Spring, where they can go, and what they need to do to get there.

FSU loses Senior Caz Piurowski. Caz was playing great before he injured his leg against Georgia Tech. He caught 13 balls for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns in only 6 games. Caz is rehabbing and has some shot at an NFL tryout. I wish him the best. He was a great 'Nole, never embarrassed the team, did what the coaches asked of him (including a position change), and played well.

In his absence, Beau Reliford was pressed into duty. In truth, Reliford was probably not ready for the starting role. Beau played part of one season of high school football, and the 6'7" 241 lb Sophomore was pretty much still a basketball player when he got to Florida State. And he struggled early. FSU was the top red zone offense in the conference this year by a large margin, but when it failed it was usually because of the blocking of non-offensive line players (tight ends), or because the backs chose the wrong hole. FSU offensive line coach Rick Trickett famously snapped at reporters when asked about his offensive line being the cause of a missed goal line opportunity, inferring that Bowden (who had trashed Trickett's guys) should watch the tape. And Trickett was right. His guys did not blow the blocks on the goal line. It was the secondary blockers. With a new running backs coach and another year of maturity from the tight ends, that problem should be remedied.

But back to Beau. He whiffed on some blocks early and looked really raw. And when 6'7" makes a mistake the entire stadium can see it. Beau really came on, however, at the end of the season. His blocking was much improved against Wake Forest, Maryland, Florida, and West Virginia in the bowl game. Beau didn't hit a ceiling because he had so much to learn. There was an incredible amount of football that Beau had not played. He's a very good athlete with a high ceiling. Reliford caught 11 balls for 89 yards and 2 TDs last year, almost all coming in the final 6 games (after Piurowski went down Beau grabbed 9 for 79).

He needs to continue to add functional size, but must maintain his flexibility. I worry about a guy who is 6'7" is he gets to 270 lbs, but there's no reason to think Reliford can't play at 250 lbs this coming season. He has to continue to get better at the mental parts of the game. He doesn't always run the right route of make the correct coverage adjustment. His route running needs to continue to improve. He has to continue getting better at blocking. Reliford isn't a natural ball catcher and likely won't ever be great, but he can become above average. Finally, because he isn't being seriously pushed by anyone, he must be self motivated.

Inside, I'll profile the other three tight end/ H-Backs taking part in Spring ball.

Up next is Jabarris Little. The 6'4" 230 lb H-Back was a highly rated 4* prospect out of Tallahassee Lincoln HS. Just so you know, think of an H-Back as a smaller, more versatile tight end who often goes in motion. FSU prefers to use H-Backs over fullbacks in its offense. He is a great example of why it is so important to work as hard as possible when healthy, because you never know when you might get hurt. Little's injury put him behind schedule. He should be 250 lbs and a beast catching the ball and blocking. But he is not. I've heard he has improved his work ethic since the injury. Similar to Reliford, he needs to work on both the mental and physical parts of his game. At this point, he realistically could be an average player for FSU this year, which would be fine for this offense given his limited role. Perhaps in 2011 as a senior he can give FSU a dangerous 2 TE formation.

Up next is Matt Dunham. This is not a joke. Dunham is still on the team. He is the only player who will be the same age as me. Dunham was a very highly rated running back coming out of Georgia. He broke all of Herschel Walker's records, though did it in a tiny classification against very suspect competition. A member of the 2005 recruiting class, Dunham has had multiple stops at Junior College but came back last year. He's 6'2" and played last season at a wildly out of shape 255 lbs. I've seen some recent pictures of him and he looks to be considerably slimmed down. I would guess he is about 240 lbs now. And he can be a nice complimentary blocking h-back piece at 6'2" 240 lbs. That's a lot more than I could say for him last season when he was just too slow, rusty, and out of shape to have the necessary footwork to block. I didn't expect him to still be around when he came back last season but he is still here and at the very least that says something about his willingness to endure some intense conditioning. Let's hope he can be a productive member of the team. This Spring I would like to see him show a greater understanding of the blocking scheme now that he can focus on something other than getting back in shape.

Finally, FSU has a walk on by the name of Jonathan Wallace. He goes 6'7" 240 and played for Jacksonville's Lee HS. His film looked like he could have had some other D-1 offers and his recruiting profile suggests that he had interest from Rutgers, South Florida, and Florida Atlantic. If you wondered who the tall white kid wearing #47 was on the sidelines last year, it was Wallace. He's not likely to press for much (if any) playing time, but he's considerably better than the average walk-on tight end and gives the defense a higher quality look against which they can practice.

SBNation's Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Preview

2010-03-10T13:00:36Z

The great thing about sports is that any team can win on any night. It doesn't matter if you're David or Goliath heading into the contest, you still have the opportunity to prove the experts right or wrong. The ACC proved many people wrong this year. The defending national champion sits at 5-11 in conference play, a seriously hyped Georgia Tech team finished in the middle of the pack, and the Maryland Terrapins are staring Duke in the face at the top of the standings. Many will consider this a down year for the ACC as the basketball elites are not sitting at the top of the standings together. If Duke and UNC aren't battling for the title, then it must be a bad year in the ACC. That may be the perception of the casual observer. However, the parity in the ACC this year may not be a reflection of its weakness, but highlighting the depth of the conference. Did anyone guess that Virginia would be hovering at the top of the standings as late as the beginning of February? That was the kind of the year that the ACC experienced.

With all of the surprises that happened during conference play, anything could happen in this tournament. The fact that the seedings couldn't be decided until Sunday evening after the very last game in conference play should demonstrate what kind of tournament fans should expect. Outside of Duke and Maryland at the top, the middle of the ACC is a competitive pack of very physical teams that can win on any given night. It may not be the typical ACC basketball to which you are accustomed, but you'll see some hard fought games and likely a few upsets.

The Stakes

As of right now, it seems that Duke, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Clemson are locks for the NCAA tournament. Though, a first game disaster for Virginia Tech, Florida State or Clemson could spell trouble, particularly in a year in which the ACC hasn't been viewed favorably. Highly unlikely that a first round exit will affect any of those teams. However, now that Clemson is the 6th seed in the tournament, they have work to do and will face Florida State in the second round if Clemson can take down NC State.

The teams that need to make a major run through the ACC tournament to get into the big dance are Wake Forest and Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech finished their last ten games of conference play with a 4-6 record, including back to back losses to end the year. Tech started conference play with a bang upsetting Duke, but it seems that they got derailed as the season went on. Wake Forest finished the year with a 5-5 record, which included a four game losing streak in which the Demon Deacons lost to UNC at home. Both of these teams will need to make a serious run to make their case for the big dance.

Twelve Names You Likely Know

These twelve players represent the 12 household names in ACC basketball. You may not be familiar with some of these players if you don't follow ACC basketball regularly. This is simply a sampling of the quality of players that you will see in this tournament.

Jon Scheyer, Duke -- Senior, 6'5 190lbs Guard Jon Scheyer, the senior leader of the Duke Blue Devils is in discussions for both ACC player of the year and National Player of the Year. He boasts the 6th best offensive rating in the nation and has a ridiculous Assist/TO Ratio of 3.0. Scheyer can flat out shoot from anywhere on the court and watch out if he gets hot early. Once he starts drawing the double teams, it opens up a lot of options for the Blue Devils.

Greivis Vasquez, Maryland -- Senior, 6'6 190lbs Guard Vasquez has become one of the most polarizing figures in college basketball. However, he can back it up and has become one of the dominant players in the ACC and is certainly in discussion for ACC POY. He rarely comes of the court; he is a big physical guard that can score from anywhere on the floor. However, he knows his role and is able to distribute the ball well with an assist rate of 36.1%, not bad for a guy averaging 19.6 points per game.

Chris Singleton, Florida State --Sophomore, 6'9 227lbs Small Forward Who would have thought that a 6'9 Small Forward would be leading the conference in steals? Singleton has earned his way into discussion for ACC Defensive Player of the Year as he is in the top ten for both steals and blocks. He's an athletic wing player that has the ability to put up big points. However, he is third in the conference in turnovers. He's happy toss up a three point shot from anywhere and is very athletic around the rim.

Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech -- Junior, 6'3 170lbs Guard Delaney is averaging 20.9 points per game, accounting for 27% of his team's total points on the year, scoring almost 200 points more than his teammate Dorenzo Hudson. Like Vasquez, Delaney can distribute the ball, averaging over four assists per game with an assist rate of 26.5%. He's more than happy to shoot the three or take it strong to the rim. He'll force you into mistakes and get the easy foul. He's averaging 7.1 fouls drawn per 40 minutes of game play.

Trevor Booker, Clemson -- Senior, 6'7 240lbs Forward Booker is an excellent all around player who is the key to Clemson's success. He has an offensive rating of 112.3, an eFG% of 53% and pulls down rebounds. He's averaging 15.3 points per game and is pulling down 8.3 rebounds. He is going to wear you down in the paint and is the emotional leader of the Tigers. Many considered him the pre-season favorite for the ACC Defensive player of the year.

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest -- Sophomore, 6'9 215lbs Forward AFA didn't enter the NBA draft and is having a wonderful sophomore campaign for the Demon Deacons. He's averaging a double-double, scoring 15.9 points and pulling down 10.8 rebounds. In fact, he is one of the best offensive rebounders in the country with an OReb% of 14.6%. He's an outstanding defender and is the cornerstone of Wake's game plan.

Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech -- Junior, 6'9 234lbs Forward Lawal controls the pain on both ends of the court. He has a wonderful turn around jumper and is highly skilled at pulling down rebounds. Like most of the big men in the conference, he can get up and down the court and looks to score in transition. Georgia Tech likes to get him isolated on the post in transition off an opponent's miss. If he and Derrick Favors can dominate like they can, Georgia Tech could win a game or too and earn themselves a spot in the big dance.

Reggie Jackson, Boston College -- Sophomore, 6'3 200lbs Guard 12 points. 5.6 rebounds. 4.5 Assists. Not a bad stat line to have night in and night out in the ACC. Jackson runs the show in Chestnut Hill and is have a great sophomore season. Though, it seems that both his stats and minutes have been decreasing of late. Look for Joe Trapani, who could have easily been in this spot, to try and shoot the Eagles' way into the second round.

Deon Thompson, North Carolina -- Senior, 6'9 245lbs Forward Since Ed Davis' injury, Deon Thompson has taken over the paint for the Tarheels. He has been working the glass and trying to will this team to any victory possible. He's averaging 13.7 points per game and pulling down 6.2 rebounds per game. He is going to make your work inside and try to wear you down, forcing mistakes on the defensive end and allowing him to get to the line.

Tracy Smith, North Carolina State -- Junior, 6'8 247lbs Tracy Smith is a complete basketball player. 17 points per game. 7.7 rebounds. He has accounted for 24% of the Wolfpack's total offense and is without a doubt their leading rebounder. While there hasn't been a lot to cheer for at NC State this year, he is certainly a player to watch in the match up with Clemson.

Sylven Landesberg, Virginia -- Sophomore, 6'6 207lbs Guard Landesberg was last year's ACC Rookie of the Year. He is an outstanding guard who really is fun to watch. He is a gifted athlete and a prolific scorer. Though, it seems that the lack of depth

Dwayne Collins, Miami -- Senior, 6'8 238lbs Forward Collins sat out the season finale against Florida State, but is likely to return against Wake Forest. The Hurricanes need Collins. He was averaging 12 points per game and 7.8 rebounds. His eFG% is an out of this world 61.4%, meaning he earns his keep cleaning everything up around the basket. He is one the best offensive rebounders in the country, ranking 20th in the nation in OReb%.

Twelve Names You Likely Don't Know (But You Should)

These players may be familiar to you, hopefully many of them won't. These are some of the lesser known players who could have a significant impact on their teams' success in post-season play. Some are the number two player on the team, some are the second player off the bench, but you might be hearing their name a lot in the next few days.

Brian Zoubek, Duke -- Senior, 7'1 260lbs In tournament play, teams have to play possession basketball and not waste any opportunities. Zoubek is the best offensive rebounder in the country with an OReb% of 22.2%. His game play has picked up significantly in the past few games and will help the Blue Devils immensely. He only plays about 17 minutes a game, but he pulls down 7.3 rebounds per game.

Jordan Williams, Maryland -- 6'9 245lbs Freshman Williams has become a key inside presence for the Terrapins. Maryland is a relatively tall team, but have a great group of hybrid players. Williams has brought size and toughness to the paint. He has an O/DReb% of 12.9 and 22.5% respectively, playing him in the top 100 in the country for both stats. Plus, he doesn't turn the ball over and generates a lot of blocks. In a conference that has a lot of good front court players, Williams will be key to the Terps success.

Michael Snaer, Florida State -- 6'5 200lbs Freshman Florida State's highly regarded recruit is finally developing into the type of player that Florida State fans expected. He is one of the best off the ball defenders that Florida State has and has shown significant improvement as the season has gone on. He is a big guard that is happy to attack the rim. Many are saying he could develop into a Toney Douglas like player, but only bigger.

Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech -- Junior, 6'7 230lbs Forward Allen is Virginia Tech's workhorse in the middle. He's averaging 12.1 points per game while pulling down 7.3 boards per game and is particularly efficient on the defensive glass. Like Delaney, he'll get you in foul trouble early and is more than happy to steal the ball. He has a steal% of 4.0, which is excellent for a big man.

Devin Booker, Clemson -- Freshman, 6'8 235lbs Forward This is not a typo. Devin is Trevor's taller, younger brother, who quietly made major strides at the end of the year. He has an offensive rating of 101.2 and has an OReb/DReb% of 10.2 and 18.1. He only averages 11.5 minutes per game. But if big brother Trevor is in foul trouble, Devin needs to have a big game for the Tigers to move on in the tournament.

Ishmael (Ish) Smith, Wake Forest --Senior, 6'0 175lbs Guard Ish doubled his production from last year. He's averaging 13.3 points per game with six assists. He is one of the best distributors in the country and is having a great senior season for Wake. He has been consistent night in and night out for Wake and will need to continue his double digit point performances for to prevent Wake from being one and done.

Mfon Udofia, Georgia Tech -- Freshman, 6'2 187lbs Guard You already know about Derrick Favors, so why not learn about the Yellow Jackets' speedy freshman guard. Udofia surprised a lot of 'experts' with his early season success. Udofia started 25 games this year, but his minutes have significantly decreased of late, likely due to Iman Shumpert re-emergence. Shumpert is another name with which you should be familiar.

Corey Raji, Boston College -- Junior, 6'6 218lbs Forward Imagine BJ Raji but smaller. Yes, this is the BC's football star's younger brother. Corey is extremely efficient on the offensive end with an ORating of 117.1. His eFG% is an outstanding 53.8% and he's getting a lot of work done on the offensive glass, which is likely contributing to his high eFG%. He's the Eagles third leading scorer.

Larry Drew, North Carolina -- Sophomore, 6'2 180lbs Guard One of the biggest criticisms of the Tarheels this year has been their lack of leadership and depth at the guard position. Larry Drew must have a good game and stay out of foul trouble for the Tarheels to have any success. Dexter Strickland isn't ready quite yet and Marcus Ginyard is not a true point guard. Drew can be effective and is a very quick guard. Without him, the Tarheels struggle.

Javier Gonzalez, North Carolina State -- Junior, 5'11 175lbs Guard Gonzalez is an undersized guard that isn't afraid to mix it up with the big guys in the paint. He's scoring 10 points per game and averages 3.8 assists. He's most effective when he can penetrate the paint and dish the ball to Scott Wood, who is the Wolfpacks' best three point shooter.

Mike Scott, Virginia -- Junior, 6'8 239lbs Forward Scott is the second leader scorer for the Cavaliers. He is also their leading rebounder. Outside of Landesberg and Scott, the scoring is few and far between for Virginia. Scott gets all of his work done inside the paint.

James Dews, Miami -- Senior, 6'4 209lbs Guard Dews has attempted as many three point shots as he has two point shots. He is averaging 11.7 points per game and is shooting 39% from deep. Look for Dews or Adrian Thomas to try and shoot the long ball against Wake. unfortunately for the Hurricanes, the Demon Deacons are one of the best teams in the country at defending the three.

Tournament Outlook

Duke has the opportunity to add another ACC Championship to its storied history. However, Maryland has showed that they are the real deal. A final match up between the two schools could be a great close to conference tournament season on Sunday. Any team in the 3 to 7 range could end up in the finals. It will all depend on if any of these teams can score on a reliable basis. The ACC boasts some of the best defenses in the nation, so the could certainly be any number of upsets. It may not make for the most exciting basketball but it will keep interesting.

The Bracket (Adapted from theacc.com)

Game Matchup	Time (EST)	TV	Coverage
Opening Round: Thursday, March 11
#8 BC vs. #9 UVA	Noon	RAYCOM
#5 Wake Forest vs. #12 Miami	2 p.m.	RAYCOM
#7 GTech vs. #10 UNC	7 p.m.	ESPN2
#6 Clemson vs. #11 NC State	9 p.m.	RAYCOM
Quarterfinals: Friday, March 12
#1 Duke vs. BC/UVA Winner	Noon	ESPN2
#4 VTech vs. Wake/Miami Winner	2 p.m.	ESPN2
#2 MD vs. GTech/UNC Winner	7 p.m.	ESPN2
#3 FSU vs. Clemson/NC State Winner	9 p.m.	ESPN2
Semifinals: Saturday, March 13
Semifinal 1	1:30 p.m.	ESPN
Semifinal 2	3:30 p.m.	ESPN
Championship Game: Sunday, March 14
Championship Game	1 p.m.	ESPN

TrueCubbie blogs about the Florida State Seminoles at Tomahawk Nation

Chris Singleton ACC's Defensve Player of the Year

2010-03-09T21:34:35Z

Chris Singleton ACC's Defensve Player of the Year

Singleton was the leading vote-getter on the league's all-defensive team after leading the league in steals at 2.3 per game. He also averaged 1.5 blocks per game.

A New Approach To Seeding

2010-03-09T18:58:47Z

A New Approach To Seeding

Jacob Weatley Schaller with an excellent read.

Basketball: Wins per draft pick

2010-03-09T17:44:19Z

Basketball: Wins per draft pick

Good stuff by our GTech site.

#5 Ranked FSU Seminoles Baseball Beats Down the SEC

2010-03-09T12:55:01Z

The Florida State Seminoles improved to 10-0 this season by beating the rival Florida Gators last Tuesday and steamrolled through the Georgia Bulldogs for a weekend sweep. It was a good week for the ‘Noles offense scoring 48 runs on 51 hits and 32 walks to 25 strikeouts. With those wins the Seminoles swapped places with the Gators in the most recent Baseball America rankings while the rest of the Top 10 remained the same.

Just for fun let's take a look and see how the FSU offense fairs against the rest of the Top 10.

As you can see FSU is tearing the cover off the ball and is leading or near the top in every category. These numbers are a little inflated due to the lesser competition we have played year to date in comparison to other top programs. Now don't get me wrong, anytime we beat UF at anything I am happy and sweeping #25 ranked UGA should be impressive but inside we will explain why you should hold off right now on booking your plane ticket to Omaha.

It has been discussed in previous baseball threads that we should not put too much importance into baseball rankings and this became abundantly clear after watching this week's games. The Florida Gators started the season ranked 7th and moved to as high as 5th primarily due to the program prestige and their #1 recruiting class, something that FSU has benefited from in years past. UF has a young and inexperienced team that to FSU's credit took full advantage of. The offense beat down UF's #4 sophomore starter before he could record an out giving #2/3 Geoff Parker a 7-0 lead before facing the following lineup.

Those 9 kids accounted for just 40.5% of the 2009 total at bats and with that lack of experience Parker was pretty much in a position where he could not fail. From the very first at bat UF was chasing pitches out of the zone in an effort to get back into the game and continued to show poor plate discipline the entire night. Young teams struggle with plate discipline as shown in the above stats, Florida's BB:K ratio ranks last among Top 10 teams and is almost 4 times less than the ‘Noles. Parker labored through the entire game lasting only 5 1/3 innings and if it wasn't for the excellent pitching of Brian Busch his night would have been much worse. UF will be a better team by the end of the year but last Tuesday night they were completely outmatched by FSU.

The #25 Ranked Georgia Bulldogs came into Tallahassee this weekend a completely different team than last year's regionals.

"Georgia's starting lineup consists of three freshmen and six sophomores, and the infield has yet to feature all four projected starters. Currently, the Bulldogs are without freshmen starting shortstop Kyle Farmer (out 3-6 weeks due to a broken hamate bone in left wrist) and sophomore second baseman Levi Hyams (sore back). Farmer, who is the team's second leading hitter at .458, has missed the past three games while Hyams has yet to see action this season. Since Farmer's injury, third baseman Colby May has moved to shortstop while redshirt freshman Kevin Ruiz and sophomore catcher Christian Glisson have split time at third base. Glisson had never played third base in his career while Ruiz saw some time there in the fall. Meanwhile at second base, freshman Todd Hankins has started all nine games this year. Ruiz along with freshman Robert Shipman filled in the first five games at first base while sophomore Chase Davidson was out with an elbow injury. Davidson has returned to first base the past three games. Hyams might see action in the field during the FSU series and could be back full-time by next week."

http://georgiasports.blogspot.com/

The Bulldog offense was in similar shape to that of the Gators. The lineups that UGA put out this past weekend consisted of only 5 players that saw any at bats last season which only accounted for roughly 30% of the team's total at bats. Sean Gilmartin and John Gast took complete advantage of that and had little trouble in their outings. The only offense Georgia could muster was off of underachieving Geoff Parker who we will discuss a little later. 38 runs against a SEC opponent who has made Regionals 3 of the last 6 years it is a definite accomplishment but in all honesty the Georgia pitching staff is nothing special and is only middle of the pack when it compares with other SEC schools. I do credit the Seminole offense for lighting up MLB prospect Justin Grimm but outside of him the pitching staff has no one worth noting. Their #2 and #3 starters had only 2 combined starts in 2009 and were completely outmatched against one of the best hitting teams in the nation.

The last and most important reason why it is too early to jump on the "Rosenblatt Bound Bandwagon" is the lack of a viable Sunday starter. Gilmartin and Gast have been lights out this far and I do think they will continue to have success throughout the rest of the season but Florida State CANNOT expect to be a title contender without a #3 starter who can go out and consistently pitch 5 serviceable innings. Junior Geoff Parker has been a complete disappointment in his 3 starts and has shown no signs of improving.

Parker was initially thought to be the Saturday starter with Gast going on Sunday, but his inability to throw effectively has forced Gast into the Saturday role and FSU in search for someone who can throw competitively on Sunday without burning through 5 bullpen arms. If Parker isn't that someone who is? Until last night against at Jacksonville Mike McGee had inexplicably not throw a single meaningful inning which raised concern on how he would look in his first start. To everyone's surprise he went out and threw 6 innings on no-hit ball striking out 8 and walking 4. This was very good to see and hopefully he can continue to pitch with similar results as 2009 which with the way Parker is pitching could move him to the Sunday spot.

Lucky for the ‘Noles there are about 45 games left in the season where they have the opportunity to solve their #3 starter problem. With their offense and the continued excellence of Gilmartin and Gast FSU should have no problem winning the majority of the series that they play. All in all FSU is off to a great start, even better than I expected but they will truly be tested this upcoming weekend against the University of Virginia who is ranked #1 in the country and rightfully so in my opinion. Come back Thursday for a FSU-UVA preview.

Other FSU Baseball Notes:

In back to back weeks a FSU player has taken ACC Player of the Week with this weeks honors going to Senior shortstop Stephen Cardullo. During a stretch in the UGA series he reached base in 9 consecutive plate appearances.

Florida State beat Jacksonville 2-0 Monday night and carried a combined no-hitter into the bottom of the 9th inning. I don't really believe in jinxes but as soon as the radio announcer mentioned the word "no hitter" the lead off batter promptly single up the middle.

‘Noles Freshman Robert Benincasa gets his 2nd start of the season in a Wednesday make up game against the University of North Florida.

From here to there: The Jimbo Fisher Story

2010-03-08T19:46:22Z

From here to there: The Jimbo Fisher Story

If you want to learn more about Jimbo Fisher, read this outstanding Andrew Carter story about his trip to West Virginia to learn about Jimbo's upbringing, with anecdotes from his brother Bryan and his mother Gloria.

Also, some follow-up comments from AC in his
A journey into Jimbo Fisher’s hometown.

And finally, some pictures of a young Jimbo as a 3-sport athlete.

FTR, The Ryno and I Know was the first to post this fanshot.

TNation 'Makes the Case' at RushTheCourt.net

2010-03-08T19:21:29Z

TNation 'Makes the Case' at RushTheCourt.net

We were invited to write a piece arguing why Florida State should be in the NCAA tournament. The data is pretty clear and it shouldn't be a question at this point.

Scroll down the page to see the story

Bracketology: FSU moves up to a 7 seed

2010-03-08T17:24:59Z

Bracketology: FSU moves up to a 7 seed

Would play Utah State and then face the 2-seed West Virginia.

Florida State Spring Football Position Preview: Offensive Line

2010-03-08T14:00:23Z

More photos » Mary Ann Chastain - AP

4 months ago: Florida State's Jermaine Thomas (38) scores a touchdown as Ryan McMahon (60) trails the play in the fourth quarter of their NCAA college football game against Clemson Saturday, Oct. 7, 2009, at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C. Clemson defeated Florida State 40-24. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

Browse more photos »

This is the fourth in a multi-part series covering the position groups as Florida State begins Spring practice. Florida State only lost 1 starter from its record-setting 2009 offense. That lone starter was WR Rod Owens. The 'Noles also lost only 2 backups in WR Richard Goodman and Guard Brandon Davis. Remarkably, FSU returns 11 of 12 starters and 10 of 12 reserves. With that returning depth, you might think that the Spring will be boring for the offense. Some off-season surgeries, however, will make things interesting and give the younger players a chance to step up and show their talent. So far we've looked at Quarterbacks, Running Backs, and Wide Receivers. Today we'll be looking at the offensive line. These guys are led by Rick Trickett, one of if not the finest offensive line coach in the country. In 2008 he took the youngest line in the nation (3 freshmen and 2 sophomores) and turned them into one of the better lines in the conference. Last season, he took that same group and made them one of the best units in the country. The 'Noles prevented sacks on 97% of passing plays.

If you weren't around these parts over the summer, you need to read Understanding Florida State's Offensive Line & Zone Run Game. Perhaps the most important takeaway is that the goal isn't always to move defenders back as it is to move them. That includes lateral movement which creates seams, a huge part of FSU's run game.

Inside, we'll take a look at what the line needs to do this Spring.

Also of note, Trickett coached the running backs after the Boston College game last season, as FSU effectively fired Dexter Carter mid-season. As profiled in the running back preview, the backs' yards went way up after the change. Here's three photos of interest:

This season, FSU returns all 5 starters and 6 reserves. The only loss was Senior Brandon Davis, who elected to graduate and pursue employment. The only way this unit can get any better is to become the best offensive line in the country. For Spring then, what questions are facing this unit? Surprisingly, there are a few.

Most of these questions concern players who will not be participating in Spring ball due to injury. Junior Right Tackle Zebrie Sanders had a hip procedure done and will miss Spring ball. Backup OT is Garrett Faircloth is out after undergoing hip surgery as well.

Backup Redshirt Sophomore Tackle Antwane Greenlee is still recovering from his devastating knee injury suffered last August, but will participated on a limited basis. Backup lineman Rhonne Sanderson had some work done in early January on his ankle and will also be limited. Starting OG David Spurlock will fully participate after having a minor knee procedure and backup Center A.J. Ganguzzais also cleared for full participation after having an elbow cleanout.

To put these off-season procedures in perspective, let's step back to 2009. FSU had three starting offensive linemen go under the knife! Left Tackle Andrew Datko had arm surgery. Doctors cut on Right Guard David Spurlock. Center Ryan McMahon had a procedure on his ankle/ lower leg. Big guys get surgery. It happens really often. Trickett's mentor Alex Gibbs addressed this in a clinic talk, saying something to the effect of

"almost all my guys get an off-season procedure. I don't want players who get hurt. I want tough players. Not saying I will play a guy who is legitimately hurt, but I don't want guys who stay hurt. My guys get their work done in the off-season."

No need to panic about any of these guys missing time. Most of the above procedures were routine and minimal. After end of any season, it's not uncommon for several players to undergo some routine maintenance. Especially those who play either on the offensive or defensive line. So let's discuss who will be playing Spring ball.

The Starters

It starts with All-American left guard Rodney Hudson. While Hudson won't win any body building contests, he is one of the best in the country. At 6'2" 290 lbs, Hudson has amazing feet. His incredible balance allows him to make sure he squares up the man he is about to block. Hudson does not whiff. He gets his hands on the inside of his opponents and keeps his feet moving. He could play tackle or center if asked and do so fairly well because of his great leverage and quickness. He should have his jersey retired after this season and will likely be a first round pick. Hudson is probably at the head of a nice class of guards including Ohio State's Justin Boren, and Michigan's Stephen Schilling. Watch how Hudson blows this Miami defensive tackle off the ball in 2008 (3:58). What quickness. Hudson needs to make sure he continues to practice at a championship level this Spring and be a good example for the younger linemen.

Next up is 6'6" 285 lb starting left tackle Andrew Datko. Datko was a 3* recruit out of Ft. Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas. Due to various injuries (shoulder and arm), Datko didn't put on much weight as FSU would have liked him to. But he has started almost every game at left tackle over the last two years- the most difficult position on the line. Not only has he started, but he has performed at or near an all-conference level. And he's done it with athleticism and tremendous technique, which bodes well for him going into this season as he is finally healthy and should be able to add more strength.

Last year, he protected Christian Ponder from the likes of Miami's Marcus Robinson (1), BYU's Jan Jorgensen (0), USF's George Selvie (1), Boston College's Jim Ramella (0), Georgia Tech's Anthony Egbuniwe (0), North Carolina's Robert Quinn (0), North Carolina State's Willie Young Jr (0), Clemson's Ricky Sapp (0), Wake Forest (0) and Maryland (0), Florida's Carlos Dunlap (1), and West Virginia. That's three sacks allowed by Datko against multiple NFL players including three first round locks over 440 drop backs. That's 99.4% pass protection! Put another way, Datko allowed a sack every 147 pass plays. He's a prime example of a guy who doesn't physically look like an elite player, but when judged by performance (how one should be judged), he's a stud. And FSU has him for two more years.

Datko is a likely lock for 1st team ALL-ACC and the only other tackle on his level is Anthony Costanzo of Boston College. Nationally he could be on the level with guys like Gabe Carimi of Wisconsin, Clint Bolling of Georgia, and Alabama's James Carpenter. And luckily for FSU fans, Datko is probably a lock to stay for two more seasons due to his need to continue to add functional size. When he does that, watch out, because I haven't seen a better technician than Datko.

The man in the middle for Florida State is Ryan McMahon. The 6'2" 285 lb Center has started every game for Florida State over the last two seasons and at this point, you know what you are going to get with McMahon. He will be good, but not great. And he is very consistent. If McMahon gets beat it is because the opposing player made a great play or is a great player. McMahon rarely makes mental mistakes or misses assignments. And he makes all the line calls for Florida State (audibles and the like). He'll probably make All-Conference based on name recognition even if his play doesn't justify the selection. Unfortunately, the media won't want to name three FSU linemen to the all-conference team, so his inclusion might push Datko down to 2nd team.

For Spring, McMahon needs to continue to add strength. And he really needs to become better at shotgun snaps. Too often they are high, causing the play to not go as smoothly as it could. And his work schooling the young guys will also be important, as the 'Noles will have some younger kids playing this Spring (but not in the Fall). How much he can improve is up for debate, but I don't know many who would argue with the idea that he is a good college center.

On the right side is the nasty guy of the bunch. Right Guard David Spurlock stands in at 6'5" 290 lbs. He's a true Junior and has started 20 games in his career, taking over for an injured Will Furlong in the 2008 NC State game. Spurlock is a strong kid and when he locks on to his target, he usually wins. He is the definition of a mauler. Spurlock will eventually play at 300+ lbs, perhaps as early as this season.

Even though he is already a good player, Spurlock has some things to work on this Spring. Technique and playing within the scheme are chief among his to-do list. Spurlock is so aggressive and so eager to hit someone, anyone, that he occasionally forgets to execute his assignment. As a result, he hangs someone else out to dry (usually McMahon or Sanders). Two of Christian Ponder's fumbles this year were a direct result of Spurlock's overaggressiveness. If Spurlock can harness that aggression and apply it while blocking the correct man on a more consistent basis, he has a chance to be really good. In particular, when Spurlock has a check responsibility (that is, when he has to wait and see if a blitzer will come), he often doesn't wait long enough before blocking someone else or helping with another blocker's assignment. He's been adding functional size at a good pace and just needs to stay healthy and continue to improve his chemistry with his linemates.

The Reserves

Up first is 6'6" 305 tackle Antwane Greenlee. Greenlee is either a double redshirt Sophomore, or redshirt Junior. But he has three years left to play at Florida State due to his injury. The question becomes whether he has officially been rewarded his medical redshirt or whether he is simply a shoe-in to receive the 6th year when he applies for it as a senior. Greenlee had a bunch of talent before his neck injury and has been hampered by the subsequent knee injury. Greenlee was a 4* recruit coming out of high school and some still think he has considerable ability. I don't have much opinion here because I haven't seen him play to make an evaluation. The ideal case is that he pushes Sanders for the next two years and then excels as a 6th year senior starter in 2012. Greenlee will be limited this Spring as he is still recovering from the aforementioned ACL tear so I don't have any expectations for him, only the hope that he stays healthy and can be a valuable member of the team.

Rhonne Sanderson is already a pretty good player. The 6'4" 290 lb redshirt sophomore can play guard or tackle, and despite being worked pretty hard against USF, can do both well. He has ankle surgery this Spring and like Greenlee, is expected to be limited. Sanderson has all the makings of a multi-year starter. He's a hard working kid and he does not get into trouble. Personally, I think he ends up at Guard next year when Rodney Hudson departs for the NFL. I can't make a Spring prediction for him because of the injury, but when he's healthy he is probably the best non-starter on the team.

At 6'2" 295 lbs, Henry Orelus is a really promising interior lineman. The 3* from Glades Central (by Pahokee) redshirted last year and has shown a great work ethic to work himself into better shape. Here's some high school film of Orelus. Give Rick Trickett a lot of credit for recognizing the athletic big man inside a high school player who frankly wasn't in great shape. There is some thought that Orelus can play center. That would be great, but if he cannot, he would make an excellent guard. Orelus projects as a likely three year starter in 2011-2013. I'd be happy to see him at a fit 300 lbs, continuing to improve both as an individual and within the context of the scheme, providing FSU with quality depth.

Bryan Stork came to FSU as a 6'6" 240 lb athlete who looked like a tight end. He had had a rough Senior year (his dad passed away), but Trickett liked what we saw. Stork is an excellent athlete with a wide frame and he should continue to add weight. Judging by recent photos, I would say he is about 275 lbs. I think Stork redshirted last year (or he might have played in the first few games then took a medical redshirt, in which case he would be a Sophomore with 4 more years to play (would have to apply and would get his extra year)). Stork is a tenacious blocker and a very high effort guy. You see it in his high school clips. Stork absolutely has the frame to play at over 300 lbs and will likely be a multiple-year starter for the 'Noles. There was some thought that Stork would be a center for the 'Noles, but this doesn't seem likely to me. Stork looks like an offensive tackle. 6'6" and eventually 305ish with long arms is not a Center. It should be noted that some of the best offensive tackles started out as tight ends. The 2008 draft had Joe Thomas, who was a 235 lb tight end coming out of high school. Last year we saw Baylor's Jason Smith, a former tight end as well. Both are $50 Million men because they retained their tight end athleticism while their bodies kept growing. Stork broke a bone in his hand (or his wrist) towards the end of last season, but appears to be healthy now. With Sanders out for Spring and Greenlee limited, Stork has a nice opportunity to see a decent amount of time with the first team.

A.J. Ganguzza at 6'2" 275 lbs is not a physically imposing lineman. But he's apparently a serviceable backup to Ryan McMahon at center. He'll be a redshirt Junior this season, and not much is expected of him other than providing quality depth in case McMahon were to go down. In truth, I would expect Hudson to shift to center and for Sanderson or Orelus to take McMahon's vacated spot should McMahon go down, but that is purely speculation on my part. Ganguzza got a few snaps against BYU last year, and looked decent enough. He's most likely set up to start at center next year in his senior season, but will be pushed. He seems to have the #2 center spot locked up and should only continue to improve this Spring. He needs to make sure the 2nd team guys work together as a unit and keep the intensity level high so that the defense gets the best possible look.

Blake Snider is a 6'4" 285 interior offensive lineman. Snider did get to play a bit last season, but he's likely going to get his medical redshirt for an injury that is yet to be determined (sarcasm). Snider is the son of a football coach and has good size. He's in the mix for a backup guard spot and he may be able to play center.

As a final note, the offensive line really subscribes to the "work hard, play hard" idea. They could probably cut down on some of the play hard business, particularly during the season. This is already one of the better groups in the country. But they have the potential to get a whole lot better. To do so they'll need to cut down on the drinking and continue to get bigger and stronger.

Also, for those of you who have been on the message boards for a long time, you've undoubtedly run across 3Noles3. His young son is in the hospital and if we could all keep him in our prayers that would be great.

FSU Finishes Third in ACC Standings...Thank You Wake Forest!

2010-03-08T01:26:59Z

FSU Finishes Third in ACC Standings...Thank You Wake Forest!

Tournament play starts Friday for the Noles. FSU will take on the winner of the Clemson vs. NC State game.

Come Dancing, Noles!

2010-03-06T19:27:22Z

Come Dancing, Noles!

Preview and Game Thread: Florida State Seminoles vs Miami Hurricanes, 12pm EST

2010-03-06T13:00:25Z

And then there was one. In the regular season finale, the Seminoles head to Miami to take on the Hurricanes and continue their winning ways. While it wasn't pretty against the Demon Deacons, the Seminoles took care of business and kept pace in the ACC standings. With a win today and a Clemson loss on Sunday, Florida State will finish third in the ACC.

Game Time: 12:00pm EST

Opponent's Site: Seventh Floor Blog

Television: ESPN2

Live Stats: scacchoops.com

In a season that had a lot of up and downs for the Seminoles, they can end the season on a high note with a two game winning streak and the possibility of finishing third in the standings. While it may not seem that this team should finish third in the conference, they have battled their way through a highly unpredictable, volatile ACC conference schedule and are in position to win 10 conference games for the second season in a row. It may not have been the prettiest basketball and was maddening to watch at times, the Seminoles got the job done when they needed to. Clearly, there were a few games that Semionles' fans want back, ones that even a modest field goal percentage might have resulted in a win. Despite all of the questions, broken remotes and gray hairs, the Seminoles are in position to make their second straight NCAA tournament appearance.

Today, the Noles head into Leonard Hamilton's old stomping ground to take on a very underachieving Miami Hurricanes team. Miami currently sits at 4-11 in the ACC and tied for last place with NC State. Since the Semionles last played the Hurricanes, Miami has only won two games: Georgia Tech and Virginia. Their four losses in the interim were to Clemson by 8, Duke by 7, NC State by 5 and UNC by 7. These are not blow out losses by any means. The Hurricanes did get walked over by a number of teams at the beginning of the season, but they seemed to have settled into being competitive.

They currently rank 60th in the Pomeroy rankings, which ranks as third worst in the conference. In fact, no team in the ACC ranks worse than 78th in the standings, meaning 12% of the top 100 teams in the country are from the ACC. Of the top 6 conferences ranked by Pomeroy, only the ACC and Big 12 have all of their teams in the top 100. As it stands, Miami has the 53rd offensive efficiency and the 79th defensive efficiency. These are not terrible numbers by any means.

Here are the rest of the Hurricanes' stats:

Raw Tempo: 67.3 poss/40 min  National Rank=178
Adj Tempo: 66.8 poss/40 min  National Rank=203

                      Offense               Defense
Raw Efficiency :  106.1 ( 90)           96.3 ( 78)
Adj Efficiency :  110.4 ( 53)           95.3 ( 79)

Effective FG%  :   52.8 ( 42)           46.4 ( 68)
Turnover Pct.  :   21.7 (238)           20.3 (188)
Off. Rebound%  :   35.4 ( 77)           31.0 ( 96)
Free Throw Rate:   36.8 (193)           36.4 (143)

3-Point FG%    :   35.8 (100)           32.9 (111)
2-Point FG%    :   52.2 ( 30)           44.8 ( 65)
Free Throw Pct.:   65.1 (284)           70.4 (254)
Block Pct.     :    9.4 (192)           12.4 ( 39)
Steal Pct.     :   10.8 (273)           10.6 (101)

3PA/FGA        :   37.7 ( 58)           34.3 (239)
A/FGM          :   55.4 (122)           56.7 (252)

If you have been following along for the entire season, you will recognize that this pattern plays directly to the strengths of the Seminoles. Miami turns the ball over almost as many times as the Seminoles, they don't shoot the ball well from the free throw line and they don't generate turnovers. Florida State forces turnovers, will drive that eFG% down and prevent Miami from getting to the line, making what few times they get to the line less damaging.

Lineups (From Seminoles.com):

PROBABLE STARTERS FOR FLORIDA STATE
F #31 Chris Singleton (10.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg; 10 pts and 3 stls vs., Miami, Feb. 6, 2010)
F #42 Ryan Reid (7.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg; 11 pts and 4 rebs vs. Miami, March 8, 2008)
C #32 Solomon Alabi (11.8 ppg, 2.4 bpg; 0 pts and 9 rebs vs. Miami, Jan., 21, 2009)
G #21 Michael Snaer (9.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg; 9 pts and 1 reb vs. Miami, Feb. 6, 2010)
G #22 Derwin Kitchen (8.5 ppg, 4.0 apg; 13 pts and 2 asts vs. Miami, Feb. 18, 2009)

F #21 Dwayne Collins (12.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg; 10 pts and 11 rebs vs. Florida State, Jan. 21, 2009)
C #45 Julian Gamble (3.3 ppg, 2.6 rpg; 9 pts and 3 rebs vs. Florida State, Feb. 6. 2010)
G #1 Durand Scott (9.7 ppg, 3.6 apg; 9 pts and 2 ats vs. Florida State, Feb. 6, 2010)
G #23 James Dews (11.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg; 19 pts and 7 rebs vs. Florida State, Feb. 18, 2009)
G #25 Garrius Adams (4.2 ppg, 2.2 rpg; 5 pts and 3 rebs vs. Florida State, Feb. 6, 2010)

This is a game that Florida State needs to exploit Miami's relative lack of size up front but account for the Hurricanes' speedy guard play. This is a formula that Florida State has become quite comfortable with as the season has gone on. With no players over 6'9, the Hurricanes have a significant front court advantage. Dwayne Collins is continuing to have an excellent season. Florida State will have to keep an eye on the likes of Malcom Grant, Adrian Thomas and James Dews. There are the Hurricanes three point threats and it would not be wise to let these three get comfortable from outside.

Four Factors and Other Stats:

College Basketball

	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%	RPG	ORPG	DRPG	APG	TPG	SPG	BPG	FPG
FSU	69.3	45.6	64.9	33.4	38.2	12.7	25.6	14.0	16.7	8.5	6.4	17.8
MIAMI	72.5	46.3	66.1	36.6	36.3	12.0	24.3	14.4	14.5	7.2	4.4	17.3
FSU Opponents	60.2	37.1	66.1	32.8	33.0	12.6	20.4	9.7	16.3	8.0	2.3	18.9
MIAMI Opponents	64.5	40.4	70.5	33.0	32.9	11.3	21.6	12.6	13.9	7.3	3.1	17.7

	POS	PPG	PPP	FLR%	Eff	eFG%	TS%	FTR	2P%	FTP%	3P%	OR%	DR%	A%	A/T	T%	S%	B%
FSU	1985.0	68.4	1.01	52.8	101.3	50.9	53.7	39.6	54.9	20.1	24.9	38.4	66.9	56.5	0.84	24.3	12.4	11.5
MIAMI	1949.0	67.2	1.08	53.9	107.9	53.2	55.6	37.0	49.6	18.7	31.7	35.8	68.3	56.3	1.0	21.6	10.8	8.0
FSU Opponents	1985.0	68.4	0.88	46.2	88.0	42.9	46.6	33.1	47.1	20.3	32.6	33.1	61.6	46.9	0.6	23.8	11.7	4.3
MIAMI Opponents	1949.0	67.2	0.96	48.7	96.0	46.2	50.2	35.6	49.3	21.4	29.3	31.7	64.2	56.8	0.91	20.6	10.8	5.7

All tables from Statsheet.com

Prediction: Florida State 71 Miami 63

Game Time: 12 pm EST

Opponent's Site: Seventh Floor Blog

Television: ESPN2

Live Stats: scacchoops.com

Random Fact From Seminoles.com

FLORIDA STATE'S RECENT 3-POINT FIELD GOAL DEFENSE
Florida State's defense limited Wake Forest to .273 shooting from the 3-point line in its four-point win over the Deacons on Wednesday night. The Seminoles limited Wake Forest to three made shots from the bonusphere - with only one coming in the second half. It marked the fifth time in the last five games that's Florida State's defense has limited its opponent to .353 shooting from long range or lower.

Florida State Defensive Ends Coach D.J. Eliot Meets The Press

2010-03-04T20:09:29Z

Florida State Defensive Ends Coach D.J. Eliot met with the press today for the first (possibly only) time this year. This coverage comes courtesy of Andrew Carter's excellent Chopping Block Blog (Orlando Sentinel). He has full video. Here is the first clip. Head on over to see the rest.

I really like how he emphasized the importance of working together with Odell Haggins. Hopefully DC Mark Stoops will emphasize that as well. Too often it seemed like Florida State's ends and tackles did not work together in a complimentary fashion. AC has a bunch of thoughts here. This one was most interesting to me:

-Eliot's recruiting responsibility goes like this: He has central Florida, north and west of Orlando. He has southeast Georgia. And upwards to around parts of Atlanta. Nationally, he'll be responsible for Texas. In fact, he has a lot of experience recruiting Texas, which he said is an advantage for him. He knows the high school programs and coaches well out that way. And even when he was coaching at Tulsa earlier in his career, he heavily recruited Texas.

Eliot has produced all-conference players at every level and his resume is very impressive considering where he has coached. He is considered to be a sizable upgrade to former DE coach Jody Allen, who had no business coaching at Florida State and who had a downright contentious and contemptuous relationship with the players and other staff.

Florida State Tops Wake 51-47

2010-03-04T05:07:57Z

The game was ugly. The refs let both sides mug each other. The 'Noles normally average offensive attack couldn't do much against the Deacons, but FSU did do some things very well.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Despite being largely unable to set up its offense, FSU did a nice job scoring in the fast break game. I counted 10+ fast break points. The 'Noles made only 11 of its 36 non-fast break shots. But the 'Noles got to the line really often and while FSU didn't shoot lights out from the charity stripe, it made up for the lack of marksmanship by increasing its opportunities. FSU also did a nice job of not turning the ball over at an outrageous rate. And they took the ball from Wake really often. Throw in winning the battle of the boards despite a great defensive effort from Wake's Alfred Aminu, and a slightly better shooting night from the Deacons, and Florida State did enough to win in the end.

The 'Noles were led by freshmen Michael Snaer's fast break effort, Chris Singleton's superb defense, and a very efficient night by Xavier Gibson. And that defense. Just wow. Playing consistent defense helps teams win close games and FSU is now 7-2 in games decided by two shots or less (6 points).

FSU plays at Miami this Saturday and will have a shot to win 10 ACC games in back to back years, something it hadn't done in more than 10 years.

Jimbo Fisher Joins the Solid Verbal Podcast

2010-03-04T03:50:11Z

Jimbo Fisher Joins the Solid Verbal Podcast

Excellent Interview by those guys. Give this a listen.

Preview and Game Thread: Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Florida State Seminoles, 7pm EST

2010-03-03T14:00:42Z

Despite a missed opportunity against Clemson, the Florida State Seminoles have the best defense in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy. Outstanding defense from the Seminoles is a given. The ability of the Seminoles to capitalize on that defense is the question that Seminoles fans have. Can the Seminoles keep pace with their opponents at a national level? Tonight, the Seminoles will be faced with the challenge of keeping pace with Al-Faroq Aminu and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. At the time of writing this (Tuesday evening), multiple teams have the potential to earn a bye in the ACC tournament. With a win, Florida State will stay in that conversation.

Game Time: 7:00pm EST

Opponent's Site: Blogger So Dear

Television: ESPN2

Live Stats: scacchoops.com

Time to step up to the challenge. With their win over Georgia Tech, the Clemson Tigers moved to 9-6 in conference playing, leaving Florida State tied with Virginia Tech and Wake Forest going into Wednesday night's games. Virginia Tech takes on NC State and Florida State takes on...Wake Forest. Florida State needs to win this game in order to have the opportunity to have a bye in the first round of the ACC tournament. Wake Forest fans are hoping to have the same result. However, Florida State has the 'easier' path compared to Wake Forest. The Seminoles end the season with Miami. Wake Forest welcomes Clemson to Winston-Salem.

Entering tonight's game, the Demon Deacons are 18-8, with an 8-6 conference record. Their out of conference schedule included big wins over Gonzaga, Xavier and Richmond. Wake Forests only two out of season losses were to William and Mary, at home, and at Purdue. They currently rank 24th in the nation for defensive efficiency and 87th in the natoni for defensive efficiency. They are the number two team in the nation for eFG% and happen to be one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country. The Deacs, however, enter the game with a three game losing streak. With the type of season that Wake was putting together, one would think it was to the likes of Maryland, Duke or Clemson.The losses have been at the hands of Virginia Tech, NC State and North Carolina. The last game was particularly troubling to the Deacs as it was at home. UNC played an outstanding game and easily earned the victory.

Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of time to put this preview together. Here are Wake's stats from Ken Pomeroy:

Record vs. D-1: 18-8
Luck: +0.036 National Rank=82 (+0.0 wins)

Raw Tempo: 71.5 poss/40 min National Rank=29
Adj Tempo: 71.1 poss/40 min National Rank=34

                      Offense               Defense
Raw Efficiency : 101.9 (156)           93.8 ( 38)
Adj Efficiency : 107.0 ( 87)           89.5 ( 24)

Effective FG% :   47.9 (207)           42.5 ( 2)
Turnover Pct. :   20.8 (183)           19.7 (220)
Off. Rebound% :   38.2 ( 23)           33.1 (199)
Free Throw Rate:   41.0 ( 94)           38.6 (197)

3-Point FG%    :   32.1 (255)           28.8 ( 9)
2-Point FG%    :   47.8 (169)           42.1 ( 14)
Free Throw Pct.:   65.5 (271)           69.5 (209)
Block Pct.     :    8.3 (110)           13.5 ( 17)
Steal Pct.     :    9.4 (149)           10.0 (147)

3PA/FGA        :   23.1 (340)           31.9 (151)
A/FGM          :   45.6 (323)           47.8 ( 43)

In their last three games, Wake Forest has really struggled as a result of their poor shooting percentage. This plays directly into the hands of Florida State. Clearly, the Noles will need to limit the production of Al-Farouq Aminu (AFA). He is having an outstanding season and this will be an outstanding matchup with Chris Singleton. Ishmael Smith is having a wonderful season for the Deacons, better than I had expected. Chas McFarland is going to give Alabi a run for his money. His is a big, physical player who likes to intimidate his competition. He will try and get Alabi in to early foul trouble.

Fortunately, Wake Forest does not force may turnovers, nor do they shoot well from beyond the arc. They prefer to play an up-tempo style of basketball. All of these elements play into the hands of the Seminoles. However, Florida State is coming off one of their worst shooting performances of the year.

This could be another game in which the first team to 50 wins. Again, apologies for the short preview.

Four Factors:

College Basketball

Rank and Records	WAKE	FSU
RPI	#30	#41
Strength of Schedule	#34	#54
Overall	18-8	20-8
Conference	8-6	8-6
Home	12-2	12-3
Away	5-6	5-5
Top 25	3-3	2-2
RPI Top 50	5-4	2-3

	PPG	FG%	FT%	3P%	RPG	ORPG	DRPG	APG	TPG	SPG	BPG	FPG
WAKE	74.5	44.2	65.5	32.1	42.7	14.8	27.8	12.2	15.1	7.3	5.7	20.3
FSU	70.0	45.9	64.7	33.7	38.6	12.8	25.8	14.1	16.7	8.4	6.5	17.9
WAKE Opponents	68.7	37.9	69.5	28.8	37.8	14.2	23.5	11.1	14.3	6.9	3.9	21.2
FSU Opponents	60.7	36.9	66.1	32.9	33.2	12.8	20.4	9.9	16.2	8.0	2.3	18.9

	POS	PPG	PPP	FLR%	Eff	eFG%	TS%	FTR	2P%	FTP%	3P%	OR%	DR%	A%	A/T	T%	S%	B%
WAKE	1893.0	72.8	1.02	54.9	102.3	47.9	51.3	41.0	60.0	21.9	18.1	38.6	66.2	45.6	0.81	20.7	10.0	9.2
FSU	1926.0	68.8	1.02	53.0	101.7	51.2	53.8	39.1	55.2	19.8	25.0	38.5	66.8	56.2	0.85	24.3	12.1	11.6
WAKE Opponents	1893.0	72.8	0.94	49.5	94.3	42.5	47.2	38.6	51.3	24.0	24.7	33.8	61.4	47.8	0.77	19.7	9.5	6.4
FSU Opponents	1926.0	68.8	0.88	46.4	88.3	42.9	46.5	33.0	46.7	20.3	33.0	33.2	61.5	47.3	0.61	23.5	11.7	4.2

All tables from Statsheet.com

Prediction: Florida State 65 Wake Forest 62

Game Time: 7pm EST

Opponent's Site: Blogger So Dear

Television: ESPN2

Live Stats: scacchoops.com

Random Fact From Seminoles.com

FLORIDA STATE'S DEFENSE IN THE LAST FOUR GAMES
Florida State, who is generally recognized as having the nation's most tenacious defense, has held its last four opponents to an average of 54.3 points per game and a cumulative shooting percentage of .365. The Seminoles have allowed 53 or fewer points in three of their last four games including an average of 26.5 points in the first halves of the last four games. The Seminoles have also forced and average of 16 turnovers. Florida State's dynamic Defensive Duo of Solomon Alabi (11 blocked shots and two steals) and Chris Singleton (five blocked shots and 11 steals) have combined for 16 blocked shots and 13 steals in the four games.