TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida State's upset run in the NCAA tournament has stretched all the way to the point where they’re now one win away from a trip to the Final Four.
Although the men’s basketball team is a couple of time zones away out west in California that hasn’t stopped head football coach Willie Taggart from staying up a little later than usual to check on his fellow Seminoles.
“How about those Noles,” said Taggart with a huge smile on his face just before the Seminoles held their second spring football practice of the year. “I didn’t stay up for the entire game but I woke up in the middle of the night, checked my phone and saw that we pulled it out. That was big time.”
The ninth-seeded Seminoles advanced to the Elite Eight for just the third time in school history with a 75-60 victory over the fourth-seeded Zags on Thursday night in the West Region semifinal.
“Everybody on campus is really excited right now and there’s tons of school pride,” said FSU student Sarah West. “We’re in the Elite 8 right now and campus is going crazy. Should be a great game Saturday night.”
To say this has been a surprise run to the Elite 8 would be an understatement. Two weeks before the tournament started FSU was a bubble team and lost their opening game in the ACC Tournament.
“It’s crazy to think of Florida State basketball getting to the Final Four,” said FSU student Curtis Marshall. “I had FSU going all the way in my bracket but it is surprising. The chemistry of the team has really come together after we lost three guys to the NBA last year. The chemistry on this team is incredible and it’s all just clicking right now.”
On Saturday the Seminoles will once again be the underdogs as they take on No. 3 seed Michigan. A win would put FSU in the Final Four for the first time since 1972.