Florida State Makes Its Mark in ACC and Top 25
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Florida State, halfway through its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, moved into the Associated Press’ top 25 for the first time in three years.
“It’s good to be ranked again, and I just hope we can stay up there,” Florida State Coach Pat Kennedy said Monday after learning his club was ranked 23rd. “Our greatest asset is this team is so quick and plays with such great heart.”
The Seminoles, second behind top-ranked Duke in the ACC at 5-2, entered the poll for the first time since the 1988-89 season, when they made the top 10 for one week.
Florida State and No. 25 USC replaced St. John’s and Stanford, each of which lost twice last week.
Duke, the defending national champion, was a unanimous No. 1 selection for the fourth time this season. UCLA (14-0) and Oklahoma State (18-0), the other two unbeaten Division I teams, were Nos. 2 and 3 for the fifth consecutive week. Indiana (14-2) and Kansas (14-1) remained fourth and fifth for the second consecutive week.
Duke (15-0) is on a 21-game winning streak and the Blue Devils received all 64 first-place votes from the nationwide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The Blue Devils will play at Florida State on Thursday.
Florida State already has four road victories in the ACC, including at No. 11 North Carolina and No. 20 Georgia Tech.
“I think the quality of the road ACC wins is really holding a lot of strength for a lot of people,” Kennedy said. “It’s an exceptional statistic.”
Florida State (13-4) scored its sixth consecutive victory Monday night, winning at Florida, 68-67.
Kennedy, with only two starters taller than 6 fee 3, plays three guards at all times and uses full-court pressure to disrupt opponents. Six players scored in double figures in back-to-back conference victories last week over Georgia Tech and North Carolina State.
“From a coaching standpoint, this team wouldn’t be much fun to play against,” Kennedy said.
Connecticut is sixth and was followed by Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona and Ohio State.
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