FSU Basketball Projected To Make Leap In 2026-27

Luke Loucks built a lot of goodwill in his first season in Tallahassee.

It's never easy to follow a legend at a university, and Leonard Hamilton was one of college basketball's greatest, but few teams were playing better than Florida State down the stretch of last season.

Now, it's on Loucks to build on that momentum and get back to the NCAA Tournament.

We're about 100 days out from college basketball starting back up, and there is a lot of excitement in Tallahassee about the 2026-27 Seminoles. There are a lot of new pieces, but ESPN believes that Florida State is one of 10 teams that could make a jump up this season.

"In Luke Loucks' first season in Tallahassee, the Seminoles took Duke to the brink of defeat in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, only for Robert McCray's potential winner to rim out at the buzzer," Myron Medcalf wrote.

"The good news is Loucks has had a strong start to his tenure, and now with a top-20 recruiting class as well as former UNC Asheville star Kameron Taylor and former Missouri star Anthony Robinson II, he could lead the school to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021," Medcalf continued.

The term "jump" is pretty broad, but ESPN says it could be a jump into the national spotlight, a jump into the top tier of their conference, or a jump onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.

We can always wonder what would've happened if FSU had been able to knock off Duke in the ACC Tournament.

They had already beaten some good teams in that run, such as Clemson and Miami, and gave Virginia all they could handle. All eyes are on next season, though.

Mar 12, 2026; Charlotte, NC, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Luke Loucks during the first half against the Duke Blue Devils at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Will FSU Make it Back to the NCAA Tournament?

The entire goal for Florida State will be to make it back to the NCAA Tournament this year. As Medcalf mentioned, they haven't been since the Scottie Barnes-led 'Noles made the Sweet 16 in 2021.

This team is talented enough, on paper. I have concerns about the depth and how many freshmen they're relying on to contribute, but having two true centers in Marcis Ponder and Cooper Schwieger makes me feel better about some of the rebounding issues they had last year.

Three-point shooting could also be a question mark. I believe Kameron Taylor is a much better shooter than he's shown thus far in his career, and Shon Abaev can be a good shooter if he lives up to his high school potential, but we need to see it.

March Madness expanding to 76 teams should help out FSU, but this team does have as much bust potential as it does boom.

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