FSU basketball chasing history heading into final week of regular season

This is a position the Florida State men’s basketball program has never been in before.

The Seminoles have won an ACC Tournament championship. They've been to multiple Sweet 16s and Elite 8s.

But since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1991, they have never won an ACC regular-season title. They've never really come all that close honestly.

Now with three games left in the regular season, Leonard Hamilton's FSU team is one game up on the Duke Blue Devils heading into today's road game at Clemson.

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Florida State (24-4 overall) is 14-3 in the conference. Duke is 13-4. But the Blue Devils hold the tiebreaker over the Seminoles since they beat them head-to-head in Durham.

Which means if Duke wins its remaining three games — at Virginia tonight, then at home vs. N.C. State and North Carolina — then FSU must win its remaining three games to retain the top spot. The Seminoles play at Notre Dame on Wednesday night before returning home to take on Boston College in the regular-season finale next Saturday.

So, yes, 17 games into the longest conference season in college basketball history, Florida State controls its own destiny in the ACC race.

"I'm not going to allow myself to get caught up with, ‘If we do this, that's going to happen,’" FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "I do know this: If we don't play well on Saturday, I know what will happen. And that's all i'm going to think about. Now I'm happy we've given our fans, alumni, supporters and the media something to talk about. Because we all realize that we need to try to win these next three games.

"But you can't win three in a row unless you take care of the first one."

Clemson at Clemson is never easy. Just ask Duke and Louisville. The Tigers beat both of them this year at Littlejohn Coliseum. And today's game is a sell-out. So it will be a charged and energized atmosphere.

But that's to be expected when you go on the road as the No. 6 team in the country and the No. 1 team in the conference.

The Seminoles edged into that first-place slot in dramatic fashion earlier this week. Not only with their instant classic comeback win at home over Louisville, but with Wake Forest coming back from nine down in the final 80 seconds to force overtime against Duke and eventually win in double-overtime.

That upset win gave the Seminoles sole possession of first place in the ACC standings. At least for the time being.

"I tuned in at the end and saw that (Wake) won," FSU forward Malik Osborne said. "At first I saw it on social media and then my dad blew up my phone. ... So I watched it until the end. The game was really good. Both teams battled hard. Then Wake Forest came out with the win, so then we realized we're the No. 1 seed now and we have the opportunity."

The Seminoles have already locked up an NCAA Tournament berth. And truth be told, they've likely already locked up a high enough seed that they'll be sent to Tampa for the first two rounds. So they've already accomplished plenty in the first 28 games of the season.

But with these next three games, they have a chance to make history. To make an already special season even more special.

"Going from a team that was unranked (in the preseason) to being a Top 10 team in the country right now, we always felt like we've always controlled our own destiny," Osborne said. "Now we just have the opportunity to secure a regular-season championship.

"Clemson is a very, very good team at their place, beating Louisville and Duke there. So they have a sort of knack for beating big teams on their home court, so we have to take them very seriously."

Florida State is now one of those “big teams.” And the Seminoles have put themselves in position to make history over the next week if they keep playing well.

Said Osborne: "We've got to win to finish this out."

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