Colleges

Today: Florida State at Miami

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published March 5, 2006

WHEN/WHERE: 1; BankUnited Center, Coral Gables.

TV/RADIO: Ch. 44; 1470-AM. RECORDS: FSU 18-8, 8-7 ACC; Miami 15-13, 7-8.

COACHES: FSU - Leonard Hamilton (63-56, fourth season; 263-266 overall); Miami - Frank Haith (31-26, second season).

NOTABLE: The Seminoles end the regular season coming off their biggest win in years, let alone this season, against No.1 Duke on Wednesday in Tallahassee. That should be the signature win to get them into the NCAA Tournament, but Florida State star forward Al Thornton said otherwise. "To set it in stone, I feel like we have to win (today)," Thornton said. That would mean fifth place in the conference. (The eight wins are their most since 1992-93.) Said Hamilton: "We need to take our program to another level and demonstrate we're more than capable of handling a little success." But that won't be easy in this game even though the Hurricanes have lost five of six, a skid that has essentially ended their NCAA Tournament hopes. ... Miami could tie for fifth with FSU and the Virginia-Maryland winner and receive the No. 5 seed in this week's tournament on tiebreakers. And when Robert Hite, Guillermo Diaz and Anthony Harris are healthy and on their games, no team in the conference has a better trio of guards. ... Florida State leads the series 28-27, but the Hurricanes have won all three meetings as ACC rivals, including 84-78 in overtime on Jan. 29 in Tallahassee.

[Last modified March 5, 2006, 00:54:10]