This isn't brand-new territory for the Florida State men's basketball program.

The Seminoles have been ranked in the Top 10 before in recent years. Three seasons ago, they were in the Top 10 for four weeks, including one week at No. 6. Then last year, they rose as high as No. 9 in the country and finished the year with a final ranking of No. 10.

So, the release of Monday's AP Top 25 and coaches' polls -- which both had FSU at No. 10 in the country after Saturday's road win at Louisville -- wasn't exactly a program-defining event.

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That's not to say it isn't important or appreciated. Of course it is.

The Seminoles just aren't -- as head coach Leonard Hamilton likes to say -- ready to take any bows for it. Not with 16 ACC games left on the schedule.

"We'll probably talk about it a little bit," Hamilton said of the ranking, "but we try to keep it in perspective. We haven't really accomplished anything. Take into consideration that there were teams ranked (high) earlier in the season that aren't anywhere to be found right now. You have a lot of teams that were ranked No. 1, and before they can get through the week, they're getting smacked.

"So we have plenty of evidence to point to that this is a journey. We were not overly concerned in the beginning of the season when we weren't ranked. Now that we're in the middle of the season and we are ranked, we can't be overly concerned."

It's the ranking at the end of the season that matters.

Florida State has three more months left in the regular season. There are going to be some downs to go along with the ups. That's just life in modern-day college basketball, especially in a conference with as much talent as the ACC.

Being ranked No. 10 in the first week of January isn't the goal of anyone wearing garnet and gold.

"Everybody wants to be No. 1," guard Anthony Polite said. "And that's what we're trying to do. So we've just got to keep working hard in practice and every game and keep moving up."

Junior guard M.J. Walker, who had a season-high 23 points off the bench on Saturday, said he didn't feel like the ranking next to FSU's name adds any pressure.

"Not at all," he said. "We've always been the underdog anyway. So to be in this position -- we want to be No. 1. So we're always working toward something better."

Walker said the key, especially at this stage of the season, is to continue to work hard in practice and study film before games. There are no laurels to be rested on. Not in January.

"We've obviously been in that position before," Walker said of the Top 10 ranking. "And our job as veterans is to make sure to continue to do what we've been doing, but take it to another level."

Just because the Seminoles won at Louisville on Saturday, that doesn't mean they will win at Wake Forest on Wednesday. The Demon Deacons are currently 8-5 on the season and 1-2 in the ACC. That one win came on Saturday night when they rallied from 16 points down to win at Pittsburgh, a place where the Seminoles couldn't win earlier in the season. Wake Forest also beat a ranked Xavier team in December.

So it's natural for Florida State to feel good about itself with the 13-2 record and the high ranking and the big win over Louisville. But it better not feel too good about itself.

"That's something we work on," Polite said. "We're onto the next one. We had a big win, and now we've just got to focus on Wake Forest with the right mindset in practice."

And if the Seminoles can do that and come away with another road victory, they might be ranked even higher next week.

Not that it would matter to Hamilton.

"Where we're going to be ranked at the end of the year -- that's what counts," he said.

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