Florida State Basketball 2015-16 Season Preview

Heading into 2015-16, there may not be a more dangerous and underrated team in all of college basketball than the Florida State Seminoles. This team boasts talent, experience and depth and will likely be the marquee giant killer out of the ACC, as well as a lock for the 2016 NCAA tournament.

Five of FSU’s top six scorers return, including leading scorer Xavier Rathan-Mayes and senior starters Montay Brandon and Devon Bookert. These three players will form the core of the team this season, but will be joined by five other players who averaged at least eight minutes per game a year ago and five-star freshman Dwayne Bacon. Although not the focus of this season, Bacon and Rathan-Mayes could be a duo everyone in the country knows for years to come, along with four-star incoming recruits Malik Beasley and Terance Mann.

In non-conference play, Florida State faces several tough teams, but no games in which the Seminoles should be heavy underdogs. The Mississippi State Bulldogs, VCU Rams, Iowa Hawkeyes and Florida Gators are all capable of making the 2016 NCAA tournament, but all are beatable teams by this talented FSU squad. Looking at this non-conference slate, Florida State could easily enter ACC play undefeated and, possibly, ranked.

In conference play, the Seminoles should find things significantly more difficult. Five ACC teams enter the 2015-16 season in the preseason top 25, and it’s hard to see a scenario in which FSU beats the Duke Blue Devils on the road or the North Carolina Tar Heels in their second game of conference play. However, FSU only faces these ranked teams a total of six times, with two of them being a very beatable Miami Hurricanes squad. Do not be surprised if Florida State finishes in the top five of the ACC, as they have the perfect schedule to do just that.

Many of the big-name teams in an extremely top heavy ACC will overlook FSU, giving the Seminoles the perfect opportunity to pull off an upset or two en route to the 2016 NCAA tournament.

Taylor Sturm is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.