Dance Card: Florida State, ACC at-large

Who? The Seminoles of Florida State.

What? The team name is derived from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, who have an official agreement with the university. You probably won't see Osceola and Renegade at a basketball game, though. Most basketball courts don't take well to flaming spears.

Where? Tallahassee, Florida, capital of the Sunshine State.

When? March 24th, in Waco, Texas.

Why?

How? They were an at-large selection.

Surprise? Predicted to finish sixth in the conference by the coaches and seventh by the Blue Ribbon Panel, they ended up tying Miami for fourth.

RPI: 20

SOS: 24

Record: 22-9 (11-7 ACC)

Good wins: Maryland.

Bad losses: At Virginia Tech.

Who's driving this thing? Sue Semrau, since 1997. She broke Marynell Meadors's record for wins by an FSU coach.

Extra, Extra! The Tallahassee Democrat.

Florida State has managed to sneak mostly unnoticed through the season, but junior center Natasha Howard and crafty senior guard Leonor Rodriguez will make sure people pay attention to the Seminoles come tournament time. Howard averages 13.0 points and 7.6 rebounds with an array of moves in the low post, while Rodriguez has emerged this season as a scoring threat, with a team-high 15.1 points per game. And the outside shooting of senior guard Alexa DeLuzio (14.2 points, 37.5% from beyond the arc) is always a threat.

Numbers that may only interest me: I love Howard's ratio of offensive to defensive rebounds. The team leader in assists, junior Yashira Delgado, has mostly come off the bench.