Florida State and the NCAA bubble: Where do they meet?

Going into the 2014 ACC Tournament, Florida State was a first four out team in ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s rendering of the NCAA Tournament field. The ‘Noles knew they needed at least a win on Thursday in the second round against Maryland to get on the right side of the bubble. Not that FSU coach Leonard Hamilton is admitting that he even gave it a scintilla of thought or anything.

“To be very honest with you, we don’t talk very much about it because we’re only worried about those things we can control,” said Hamilton after Florida State’s 67-65 win over Maryland on Thursday.

The win was #20 for FSU, which came into the game ranked 54th in the RPI with the 39th-rated strength of schedule. A win over ACC regular-season champ UVa. on Friday would be huge, but again, Hamilton is having none of that in terms of talk, not publicly.

“Now, obviously it’s in your face every day, but bracketology in and out has become a sport, and we all can play it, and we don’t judge,” Hamilton said. “We can be wrong, we can be right, and it makes for great conversation. But most of the people who are talking, they don’t have a vote. They’re not in the room, so it doesn’t really matter when it boils down to it. So we try to not pay a whole lot of attention to it, but try to internalize our emotions and understand that the only way we’re going to have some postseason opportunities is to take care of the task at hand, and that’s been our approach all year long.”