After a week off from games, the Florida State men's basketball team will return to conference play tonight against Clemson (7 p.m. ET, RSN TV affiliates).

Not only does it mark the first road game for the Seminoles (5-1 overall, 1-0 in the ACC) this season, but it also marks one of the rare times in program history where FSU will take the court as the highest-ranked team in the ACC.

Florida State is currently No. 18 in the AP Top 25. Duke is 20th, Virginia is 23rd and Virginia Tech is 24th.

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It's just another reminder of how far the Seminoles have come in recent years under head coach Leonard Hamilton. And how the players have to adjust to getting each team's best effort, which Hamilton says the Seminoles didn't do a very good job of in a stunning loss to UCF before the break.

That challenge will continue tonight with a Clemson squad that is currently 6-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.

"We're getting the very best of everybody we're playing against," Hamilton said on Monday morning. "That's a new territory for some of our guys. We've kind of been on a climb, and I just think that we have to start developing the mental level of being rare, and protecting that which the people before you have earned."

By any measure, Florida State has been one of the best teams in the country the last four years. The Seminoles have been ranked in 67 of their last 75 games, including 21 in the Top 10. They are also an astonishing 29-5 in their last 34 ACC regular-season games.

*ALSO SEE: Ham-alytics: Six-game snapshots of 3 FSU veterans and Clemson's defense

Hamilton said his players don't necessarily feel the pressure of maintaining that status. But he thinks this period is another growing opportunity for his program, to learn what it's like to be the hunted instead of the hunter.

Florida State, which won the ACC championship last season, has become a big enough name now that it's officially one of the marquee programs in the conference. And that means every opponent has the Seminoles circled on their schedule.

"I haven't had the luxury in my head coaching career of ever going anyplace that was already at that level when I got there," Hamilton said. "It's a mindset that evolves over a period of time. ... The cake is still in the oven. We're still developing that.

"I don't lose sight that we're not the UCLA of the South. We haven't won nine straight championships. But that's what makes it so much fun. And where we are, we appreciate. But it's always a climb when you're trying to switch over from being the hunter to being the hunted."

The Seminoles survived one conference game already, a home win over Georgia Tech, and now they face off with the last ACC team to actually beat them.

Clemson knocked off FSU by a single point last season when guard Al-Amir Dawes got a running layup to fall at the buzzer.

Dawes scored 18 points that afternoon against the eventual ACC champs, and he is currently averaging 11 points and 2.6 assists for the Tigers this year. Aamir Sims is the only other Tiger averaging in double-figures. He leads Clemson with 12.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

The strength of head coach Brad Brownell's team is its defense. The Tigers rank No. 3 nationally in scoring defense (53.4 points per game), 17th nationally in field goal percentage defense (36.9) and 17th in turnovers forced (18.86).

Clemson also has taken a page out of Hamilton's playbook when it comes to relying on its depth: 11 players are averaging double-digit minutes, and nobody is playing more than 27 per game.

"Believe me, they have our attention going into this game," Hamilton said. "We realize that we're going into the Tigers' den. No doubt about that. They're hungry. They're on the climb up. This looks like this should be their year. They're deeper than they ever have been.

"I love those guys coming off the bench: Big, long, rangy kids, one 6-9 and three 6-10s. They've got size, quality depth. They've got a great defensive philosophy. ... We know what we're up against."

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