The Seminoles turned in another stellar defensive effort, frustrating Notre Dame and their jump shooters.

They were able to cruise to victory despite the fact that Chris Singleton did not see much action.

The Seminoles now move on to face the VCU Rams, a very winnable game despite how well they have played.

It’s pretty amazing to think that the Seminoles are actually this close to reaching the Sweet 16.

As the NCAA tournament arrives, there may not be more of a mystery team in the field than Florida State. This is a team that managed to beat the top-ranked team in the nation nine days after losing to one of the worst squads in the land.

And there is doubt whether its best player will be on the court when the NCAAs start.

Florida State lost leading scorer and rebounder Chris Singleton to a broken bone in his foot on Feb. 12, during a victory over Virginia. Without Singleton, the Seminoles went 3-3, falling to Virginia Tech 52-51 in the ACC quarterfinals on Friday.

It’s been a wild ride for the Seminoles. A victory over then-No. 15 Baylor on Christmas Day was followed by a 65-60 loss at Auburn – which endured a miserable season – on Jan. 3. Nine days later, the Seminoles toppled then-No. 1 Duke, 66-61. Also on the resume: a four-point loss against Florida and a two-point loss to North Carolina.

The Seminoles are the No. 10 seed in the Southwest regional, facing No. 7 Texas A&M on Friday in Chicago. Singleton may or may not be ready to play Friday.

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In a game that was close throughout, Florida State held a small lead with just a few minutes to play.

They saw that lead evaporate for good when Harrison Barnes knocked down the game-winning three-point shot with just seconds to play.

It was still a phenomenal effort from Florida State, which took North Carolina right to the end despite not having Chris Singleton available to play.

The win should at least boost the Seminoles’ confidence, and they could even get Singleton back for the ACC tournament.

The Seminoles used their trademark defense to stifle Duke’s offense and make the game pretty ugly.

It’s something Florida State has grown accustomed to doing to Duke at home over the past several years.

Guard Derwin Kitchen scored 17 of his 22 points after halftime and Chris Singleton added 18.

It’s Florida State’s fourth win over a number one team, with the past two coming against Duke in 2002 and 2006.

In its first season without Bobby Bowden patrolling the sidelines, Florida State did just fine.

The Seminoles won nine times in 2010 and captured the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Atlantic Division title under first-year head coach and longtime successor-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher.

The Seminoles fell short against Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game, but can finish with a 10-win season by downing South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, New Year’s Eve at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta

Both teams have been two of the bigger storylines in southern college football this season. No. 20-ranked South Carolina (9-4) finally has reached the upper echelon of the SEC under Steve Spurrier, topping then top-ranked and defending national champion Alabama en route to winning the SEC East for the first time in school history.

South Carolina brings two of the top skill players in the south to the game in freshman running back Marcus Lattimore (1,198 yards, 17 touchdowns) and sophomore wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (1,387 yards receiving, nine touchdowns). Defensively, South Carolina finished at the top of the SEC in rushing defense and sacks.

Florida State led the country in sacks and gave up just 19.8 points per game. Quarterback Christian Ponder, who did not start in the ACC Championship Game due to an injury, has passed for 2,038 yards and 20 touchdowns. Chris Thompson leads the rushing attack with 699 yards and five touchdowns.

One interesting aspect of the game: it will be just the third time the Gamecocks have played indoors in their history, but their second in a row in the Georgia Dome (after last week’s SEC Championship Game).

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Ponder has been bothered by arm trouble for much of the season, but the injury became worse in the loss to North Carolina.

The quarterback sat out last week’s win over Clemson, which gave E.J. Manuel a chance to shine.

Manuel, who is the heir apparent to Ponder, put together an uneven performance but lead the team on the final drive to the game-winning field goal.

Ponder said the injury gets worse every time he lands on his arm, so it’s unlikely he will make it through the entire game.

After drubbing Samford last week, some thought the Seminoles looked the best they have in several years.

There was talk that Florida State’s showdown with Oklahoma could be their chance to reclaim some of the national spotlight.

Instead, Florida State’s shaky defense turned into a sieve that Oklahoma slid through time and time again.

Even the Seminoles’ high-powered offense was shut down after an impressive drive on their first series.

If the Florida State Seminoles looked at Saturday’s trip to Oklahoma as a measuring stick, they certainly didn’t like the results.

Playing a top-10 team on the road and looking to vault higher in the rankings from their No. 17 position, the Seminoles were run over by a high-powered OU offense, falling 47-17.

How bad was it for FSU? The highlight came on the game’s final play, when backup quarterback E.J. Manuel threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Taiwan Easterling. That cut the final deficit to 30 points.

Starting quarterback Christian Ponder saw his Heisman Trophy hopes take a huge hit. Ponder finished just 11-for-28 for 113 yards and two interceptions.

The FSU defense couldn’t stop OU quarterback Landry Jones, who finished 30-for-40 for 380 yards and four touchdowns.

The Seminoles play host to Brigham Young on Saturday.

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Bowden is set to begin a promotion for his new book and has been giving interviews to conjure up interest.

He said he was told by the athletic director that he could either remain coach but not be allowed on the field or he could be terminated.

Bowden said there was no way he was going to get paid all that money for some meaningless figurehead position, so he said that was not going to work.

He also said that when he went to pack up his office a week later, there was no one there to thank him for all of his years at the school.

Down by 16 points at halftime against a NCAA Tournament savvy team, it looked like the Florida State Seminoles might be run right off the floor in their tourney opener.

But the Seminoles found themselves surging for most of the second half before finally falling short, their season ending with a 67-60 loss to Gonzaga in the opening round of the NCAAs on Friday in Buffalo, N.Y.

Deividas Dulkys scored a team-high 14 points, and Solomon Alabi added 13 for Florida State (22-10), which trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half before chipping away at the Gonzaga lead. Dulkys’ 3-pointer with 2:21 to go brought the ‘Noles within five points at 59-54.

But Gonzaga kept FSU at bay from there, hitting its free throws in the final two minutes.

The Seminoles, the ninth seed, fell behind by 15 points thanks to a 24-7 first-half run by the more-experienced Bulldogs. FSU shot just 35.6 percent from the floor, while the Bulldogs hit on 50 percent of their shots.

After winning five of their final six games entering the postseason, the Seminoles ended up losing in both their Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA tournament openers.

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