No. 12 Seminoles earn highest in-season ranking in nearly 25 years

Florida State atop ACC standings after beating Virginia

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Move over, Duke. There appears to be a new team to beat in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Florida State Seminoles (14-1, 2-0 ACC) are ranked No. 12 in the latest Associated Press poll released Monday. It is the highest in-season ranking for the Seminoles since the 1992-93 season.

Florida State moved up eight spots after its 60-58 victory at then-No. 12 Virginia on New Year's Eve.

The Seminoles are alone at 2-0 atop the ACC standings for just the second time since joining the league for the 1991-92 season.

"We can't start taking any bows because no teams have ever been selected to play in the NCAA tournament with 14 wins," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said.

No. 8 Duke (12-2) remains the highest-ranked ACC team. The Blue Devils dropped three spots after falling to Virginia Tech on New Year's Eve.

Louisville (12-2) is ranked ninth.

Despite Virginia's loss to Florida State, the Cavaliers jumped one spot to No. 11.

North Carolina (12-3) fell from ninth to 14th after a New Year's Eve loss at Georgia Tech.

Virginia Tech moved into the rankings at No. 21.

No. 23 Notre Dame (12-2) is the last of the seven ACC teams ranked among the top 25.

Florida State will learn just how good it really is beginning Saturday, when the Seminoles host Virginia Tech (12-1). They'll play Duke, North Carolina, Notre Dame and Louisville in succession in the next two weeks.


About the Author:

Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.