You pass one test, and another one is waiting a few days later.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Life in the ACC is in full swing now for the No. 9 Florida State men's basketball team.

The Seminoles (15-2 overall, 5-1 in the ACC) have won eight straight games heading into today's showdown with the Miami Hurricanes (10-6, 2-4) in Coral Gables (1 p.m. ET, ACC Network).

If that streak is going to be extended to nine, they'll have to win a third straight conference game away from home. Against a rival desperate for a marquee win.

"When you're in the grind, when you're in the battle, you've done it over and over, you realize that there's a human nature involvement here," FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "You're not conscious of it. You don't talk about it. You don't speak to it. ... Knowing that human nature is what it is, you (can) get caught by surprise.

"Well, we are not going to get surprised. There's enough examples for us to realize the only way we're going from where we are to be meaningful is we've got to stay in the moment and keep doing what we're doing."

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The Seminoles are coming off a hard-fought, down-to-the-final seconds win over defending national champion Virginia on Wednesday night.

Now, they take on a Miami team that has only eight scholarship players available. And in each of the Hurricanes' last two games, they have played just seven. Meanwhile, Hamilton routinely goes 10 deep with his rotation.

Not that anyone is expecting a walk on the beach today in South Florida.

"(Trent Forrest) keeps telling us every day, every day, even when we're at practice, that we can't get complacent," sophomore forward Malik Osborne said. "Because we've worked hard for this and we've also got to work hard to keep it going.

"We can't let anyone take it away from us."

Miami has two veteran guards in Chris Lykes and D.J. Vasiljevic, who are averaging 15.6 and 14.4 points, respectively. Transfer Kameron McGusty is averaging 14.6. All three are capable of putting up big numbers if they get hot.

Because of their lack of depth, the Hurricanes have struggled somewhat on defense (allowing opponents to shoot 45 percent from the field) and on the boards (getting out-rebounded by five per game).

But they have enough capable shooters and scorers that the Seminoles know they'll have their hands full this afternoon. Just like they did on Wednesday night against a slumping Virginia team that was able to give FSU fits for essentially a full 40 minutes.

"We can expect that for the remainder of the season," Hamilton said. "We've won games, but we haven't necessarily dominated anybody. ... We're finding ways to win, and at some point I think we're going to start smoothing things out."

If they can find a way to win again today, the Seminoles have a serious chance to rise even higher in the rankings. With a number of teams ranked ahead of them having already lost this week, Florida State could reach some lofty heights when the next polls are released.

Then again, the fact that so many teams ahead of them have already lost should be plenty of reason for the Seminoles to be focused solely on the task ahead this afternoon.

"If we allow those outside noises to affect you, then you yield to what I call the basketball demons — that raise their ugly heads," Hamilton said. "And we just know they're out there. They're lurking around in the dark shadows. ...

"We understand that we haven't accomplished enough on this journey to feel like we have arrived."

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