Florida State men’s basketball (16-14, 9-8) finishes off its regular season with a Senior-Day matchup against SMU (19-11, 8-9). The Seminoles fell to the Mustangs 83-80 earlier in the year after trailing by double digits in the second half.
Luke Loucks’ team is coming off a 2-0 roadtrip, most recently, with a victory over Pitt on Wednesday night. The Noles finished the 2025-26 season winning five-straight road games, a feat the school has not accomplished since 1992. While Georgia Tech and Pitt, the two schools the Seminoles saw on the road trip, are not exactly Duke and North Carolina, stats like these show the progress Loucks has made in only his first year at the helm.
The shocking success in the rookie head coach’s first season makes Saturday a vital game in the ACC standings, something that felt impossible back in January when FSU was 0-5 in conference play. Florida State needs some help, but with a win today and favorable results across the league, the Noles could end up as a #7 seed in the ACC tournament, earning a bye and avoiding Duke’s side of the bracket.
Part of the reason the #7 seed is even in play for Florida State is SMU’s recent struggles. The Mustangs are currently on a three-game losing streak after seemingly being too far ahead for the Noles to chase down. The three defeats did come from the two California ACC schools on their West Coast trip and a home defeat to red-hot Miami, so not exactly the easiest games, but the Noles will take any schedule breaks they can get.
Today’s game tips off at 2:00 PM ET on ACC Network.