By FSU sports information

Florida State has been selected to finish fifth in the ACC men’s basketball standings for the 2022-23 season by the attending media at the ACC Tip Off in Charlotte. It marks the fourth consecutive season the Seminoles have been selected to finish in fifth place or better in the final standings of the nation’s top basketball conference.

In two of the last three seasons, the team selected to finish fifth in the preseason has won the ACC championship – the Seminoles in 2020 and Virginia Tech in 2022. Florida State won the 2020 ACC Championship with a school-record 16 wins and a 16-4 conference record during the regular season.

The Seminoles return five players from the 2021-22 team, including leading scorers Matthew Cleveland and Caleb Mills. They have also landed UCF transfer guard Darin Green Jr. as well as Spanish star forward Baba Miller.

In four of the last six seasons, coach Leonard Hamilton has led the Seminoles to a higher finish in the final standings than was predicted in the preseason. In 2017, the Seminoles were picked to finish eighth and finished second; in 2019 the Seminoles were picked to finish seventh and finished fourth; in 2020 the Seminoles were selected to finish fifth and won the regular season championship; in 2021 the Seminoles were picked third and finished second.

North Carolina, which played Kansas in the National Championship game last season, was picked as the favorite in the 2022-23 ACC race for the 20th time since 1970. The Seminoles are picked to finish in the top five along with North Carolina (first), Duke (second), Virginia (third) and Miami (fourth).

The Seminoles, who are one of the top programs in the ACC, finished an injury-filled season in 2021-22 with a 17-14 overall record and a 10-10 mark in ACC play. The Seminoles were 6-2 in conference play before losing four of five starters to injury and finishing with a 10-10 mark in conference play. Since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, Florida State is the fourth winningest program in the ACC with a 78-42 record.

Florida State will be led during the upcoming season by a core group of returning guards in Cleveland (the reigning ACC Sixth Man of the Year) and his back court running mates Mills (12.7 ppg) and Jalen Warley (2.5 apg).

Seminole fans interested in purchasing season tickets for all home regular season games at the Donald L. Tucker Center can learn more here, or are encouraged to call to the Florida State Ticket Office at 1-888-FSU-NOLE. Single game tickets for home games in November and December will go on sale on Monday to Seminole Boosters and Tuesday to the general public.

1. North Carolina (90), 1504

2. Duke (2), 1339

3. Virginia (6), 1310

4. Miami (2), 1138

5. Florida State, 1064

6. Notre Dame, 971

7. Virginia Tech (1), 921

8. Syracuse, 700

9. Wake Forest, 672

10. NC State, 548

11. Clemson, 528

12. Louisville, 477

13. Boston College, 368

14. Pitt, 320

15. Georgia Tech, 260

First-place votes in parentheses

First Team

Name, School, Votes

Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 100

Isaiah Wong, Miami, 81

Caleb Love, North Carolina, 58

Terquavion Smith, NC State, 46

Jeremy Roach, Duke, 35

Second Team

Name, School, Votes

Jayden Gardner, Virginia, 32

Dereck Lively II, Duke, 19

Justyn Mutts, Virginia Tech, 18

PJ Hall, Clemson, 17

RJ Davis, North Carolina, 14

Preseason Player of the Year

Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 82

Preseason Rookie of the Year

Dereck Lively II, Duke, 57