In reality, the Florida State men's basketball team had three different chances to hang a banner in the last two weeks.

If the Seminoles could have held onto a 16-point lead at North Carolina, they would have been able to wrap up the regular-season ACC title a few days later at home vs. Boston College. But nope.

If they could have beaten a below-average Notre Dame team the following Saturday, they could have done it. But nope.

And then maybe if they had just turned the ball over 19 times on Saturday night against Georgia Tech, they would have gotten themselves an ACC Tournament championship banner. But nope.

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They turned it over 25 times instead. And lost, 80-75, to the Yellow Jackets in the conference finals at Greensboro, N.C.

You could tell in the postgame press conference how disappointed head coach Leonard Hamilton was, and not because he would have gotten $300,000 in bonuses if the Seminoles had won the regular-season and tournament titles. But because of the history his team could have made.

He said there were players in the locker room crying.

That's not surprising.

Those guys know, like he does, like we all do, that FSU in 2021 had a chance to be a forever team.

Florida State's 2012 team will always be remembered. So will 2020. This group had a chance to put up an ACC banner right beside those teams. It had, in fact, three chances to cut down nets, and it just didn't get the job done.

It gagged at Notre Dame. It couldn't hold a lead at North Carolina. And it couldn't hold onto anything against Georgia Tech.

The Seminoles had chances to make sure that this season, which has been the most challenging one of their lives, a truly special one. Instead, after taking a nine-point lead over Georgia Tech with 13:53 left in the game, they allowed the Yellow Jackets to score on 23 of their last 28 possessions.

The turnovers were ridiculous. That's why they lost the championship. But the defense, the fouling, the non-steals (FSU had one steal for the game, while Georgia Tech had an ACC Tournament-record 15) played a huge role down the stretch as well.

It was a brutal loss. One the players on this team will remember for a long, long time.

Because they had given themselves a chance to make up for the debacle in South Bend with a terrific win Friday night over North Carolina. Beating the Tar Heels in Greensboro is a significant accomplishment. Beating UNC twice in the same season is something the Seminoles hadn't done since 1991-92, their first year in the conference.

The players on this 2021 team have enjoyed many great moments this season, and they seemed destined to have at least one more. A championship that would immortalize their season.

But it slipped through their fingers, probably right to Jose Alvarado, who kicked it ahead to a teammate for a layup.

That was the story of the night.

But here's the thing: It doesn't have to be the final story of the season.

The Seminoles can still have a magical March. Even if the first part of the month was maddening.

"Sure, we're disappointed," Hamilton said after Saturday's loss. "Got a lot of kids with tears in the locker room. But that's part of the pain of losing a game when you don't play as well as you think you're capable of playing. But I feel very confident with the character we have on the team, the culture that we've been able to develop, that we'll bounce back and come together as a team and be prepared for the NCAA Tournament.

"The good news is that we know we're going to the NCAA Tournament."

And this one will be unlike any in the history of the sport.

The Seminoles stayed in Greensboro on Saturday night and are flying up to Indianapolis later today to join the other 67 teams invited to the Big Dance. They could be up there for a month in the pseudo-bubble if they play well. I truly believe that.

Or, if they play like they did on Saturday night, they might not even make it to the end of the weekend.

The 'Noles had a chance to be a No. 3 seed had they won against the Yellow Jackets. That loss undoubtedly ended any chance of that, and now they have to hope for a No. 4 seed so they can at least avoid the dreaded 5-12 matchup in the first round.

Either way, though, that would mean if they advance to the Sweet 16 -- a big "if," of course -- they would likely be matched up with a No. 1 seed.

Of course, they'll cross that bridge if they make it there.

As bad as they felt on Saturday night, the Seminoles' season isn't over. It they can stay positive, while not testing positive, they still have a chance to hang up a banner or two before this season is through. They're good enough to do that.

M.J. Walker and Anthony Polite and Malik Osborne will have almost a week to get healthy-ish.

Scottie Barnes has a week to get geared up for his first and only NCAA Tournament.

RayQuan needs to either start playing with the confidence of the other RaiQuan, or he needs to not play at all.

And the Seminoles need to go to Indianapolis and play like they have nothing to lose.

After all, what could be worse than playing for and losing an ACC championship twice in one season? They've already lived that nightmare.

Florida State, quite obviously, didn't handle the weight of expectations down the stretch.

And because of that, there won't be a whole lot of expectations next weekend.

Even many in the FSU fanbase are probably expecting an early exit now.

If the Seminoles can flush the disappointment, if they can regroup, if they can realize that even with those bitter losses there are some sweet, sweet wins out there to be had, then maybe, just maybe, they could end up making this is a special season after all.

Otherwise, we'll be left to remember this season for only what could've been.

Contact senior writer Corey Clark at corey@warchant.com and follow @Corey_Clark on Twitter.

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