TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After claiming the ACC championship this past Sunday, Florida State guaranteed its spot in the NCAA Tournament for the 14th year in a row securing the league’s automatic bid. The Seminoles were rewarded for capturing their second league title in the last three years by receiving one of the four No. 1 seeds in the tournament for the third year in a row and fourth time overall.
“It’s thrilling; we work hard all season long with the hope that we are going to get ourselves into the NCAA Tournament,” Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian said. “When you put together a string of results as we did, you’re optimistic and hopeful that the No. 1 seed is going to come. But you never know for sure until it appears on the screen.”
Florida State will open the tournament in Tallahassee on Friday, November 15 at 7:00 p.m., against South Alabama, winners of the Sun Belt Conference. Friday’s first round match-up marks the sixth meeting between the Seminoles and the Jaguars and first in the NCAA Tournament. The two schools last faced each other during the regular season in 2009. FSU leads the all-time series 5-0-0.
“We are all thrilled that we have earned the right to get back into the tournament, but now we will turn all of our attention and focus to South Alabama,” said Krikorian. “We are not going to focus on anyone else beyond South Alabama. They will get our full attention and we are going to give them the respect that they deserve. South Alabama earned their way into the tournament and will be a worthy opponent.”
Florida State will host the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in school history and fifth year in a row. The Seminoles are 27-1-0 all-time when playing inside the friendly confines of the Seminole Soccer Complex during the NCAA Tournament.
The ACC earned all four No. 1 seeds in this year’s tournament as the Seminoles were joined by Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia, the overall No. 1 seed. The league secured eight bids in total as Boston College, Duke, Notre Dame and Wake Forest rounded out the ACC’s at-large selections.
“We know that we are battle tested,” added Krikorian. “The last six games of the year we played Virginia Tech, Virginia, Notre Dame, Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech again and all five of those teams are in this year’s field. They are highly seeded and highly respected teams. The message we go into the tournament is that there’s not a whole lot that will surprise us and there’s not a whole lot that we haven’t already seen. Now it’s a matter of us going out, preparing properly and executing the plan.”
Tickets will go on sale beginning Tuesday, November 12 and can be purchased over the phone at 888-FSU-NOLE, in person at the Seminole Ticket Office located in side C of the University Center and online at Seminoles.com. Tickets can also be purchased at the Seminole Soccer Complex beginning at 6:00 p.m., on Friday, November 15.
