Noles News: FSU men’s hoops to face LSU, women’s basketball paired with Tennessee in ACC-SEC Challenge (2024)

Recruiting

Florida State offered 2026 athlete Jordan Crutchfield on Wednesday — the 6-foot-3, 200-pound prospect out of Fort Pierce is considered a four-star by the 247Sports Composite Rankings (No. 23 defensive back) and holds offers from the likes of the Kentucky Wildcats, USF Bulls, Florida Gators and Indiana Hoosiers amongst others:

If you want to feel really old, the Seminoles also offered 14-year-old 2028 quarterback Wonderful Monds IV on Wednesday — the 6-foot-3, 200-pound upcoming freshman at Vero Beach High School also recently earned an offer from the UCF Knights:

Football

ESPN put together its ranking most influential teams in college football history — spoiler alert, Florida State did not make the list but Bill Connelly did write this:

There’s no Florida State team on this list, by the way, which seemed a bit odd. The Seminoles crafted a particularly devastating no-huddle attack for Heisman winner Charlie Ward in the early-1990s, and with stars such as Deion Sanders certainly made a lasting impact on college football culture. Alas, I had only 30 spots to work with, and FSU’s role on this list ended up being the team that beats the influential team. The Noles took down both 1999 Virginia Tech and 2013 Auburn to win national titles. They walloped Woody Dantzler, Rich Rodriguez and company a few times, too, for that matter.

Baseball

We’ve got some early moneyline odds via DraftKings for opening games in the College World Series:

Game 1: UNC (-140) vs. Virginia (+110)

Date: Friday, June 14

Time: 2 p.m.

Network: ESPN

• Game 2: Tennessee (-180) vs. Florida State (+140)

Date: Friday, June 14

Time: 7 p.m.

Network: ESPN

• Game 3: Kentucky (-145) vs. NC State (+114)

Date: Saturday, June 15

Time: 2 p.m.

Network: ESPN

• Game 4: Texas A&M (-195) vs. Florida (+150)

Date: Saturday, June 15

Time: 7 p.m.

Network: ESPN

2024 College World Series odds: Winner

Tennessee Volunteers: +290

Texas A&M Aggies: +350

Kentucky Wildcats: +450

North Carolina Tar Heels: +650

Florida State Seminoles: +800

NC State Wolfpack: +900

Virginia Cavaliers: +1000

Florida Gators: +1300

All Sports

Florida State men’s basketball will face off against the LSU Tigers in this year’s ACC-SEC Challenge, with women’s hoops set to take on the Tennessee Volunteers:

The Seminoles have won three of the last five games against the Tigers in a series that dates to 1957. The most recent meeting between the two teams came as a 79-76 Seminole win on November 23, 2018, in the second round of the AdvoCare Invitational at Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Florida State won the game on a last second 3-point shot by Mfiondu Kabengele to give the Seminoles the overtime time victory and advance them to the championship game of the tournament. The event was played at the Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World resort.

The series between the Seminoles and the Tigers is tied a 3-3 with each of the last three meetings coming at neutral sites. The Seminoles defeated the Tigers at the Milwaukee Classic (December 16, 1967; 130-100) and at the AdvoCare Classic in Like Buena Vista in 2018. The Tigers defeated the Seminoles at the Sugar Bowl Classic (December 30, 2004; 67-50) in a game played at the New Orleans Arena.

The Seminoles’ game against LSU will mark the third time in the series the two teams will play on the Tigers’ campus. The series began in 1957, and was played again in 1959, at the John M. Parker Agricultural Coliseum. The six-game series has been played in Tallahassee once and resulted in an 82-67 Seminole win at Tully Gymnasium on the Florida State campus.

Women’s basketball will get another opportunity to face historical program Tennessee in this year’s SEC/ACC Women’s Challenge, this time on the road in Knoxville at Thompson-Boling Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024.

The conference challenge game is a rematch of last year’s early-season thriller when the Seminoles defeated No. 11 Tennessee, 92-91, on Nov. 9, 2023. The game was headlined by rising junior guard Amaya Bonner’s 11 fourth-quarter points, including a game-tying 3-point field goal to make it 91-91 with 52 seconds remaining.

The Seminoles and Lady Volunteers are two of eight Division I programs to make the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournaments in each of the last 11 seasons. FSU is coming off its second straight 12-6 season in ACC play – its first set of back-to-back 12-win seasons in ACC play since 2014-18.

Tennessee will be led by first-year head coach Kim Caldwell, who was hired on April 7, 2024, after eight successful seasons coaching at Division II Glenville State (seven seasons from 2016-23) and Marshall (one season in 2023-24). Caldwell led the Thundering Herd to the NCAA First Round while also guiding them to a Sun Belt Conference title last year.

The Lady Volunteers are the fourth confirmed opponent on the 2024-25 schedule for FSU. The Seminoles play in the Paradise Jam from Nov. 28-30 in St. Thomas against Texas Tech (Thursday, Nov. 28), Missouri State (Friday, Nov. 29) and Gonzaga (Saturday, Nov. 30).

FSU has finalized its 12-player roster for the 2024-25 season, which includes the return of high-scoring trio Ta’Niya Latson, Makayla Timpson and O’Mariah Gordon. The Seminoles are slated to bring back 75 percent of their scoring production from a year ago as well as 82 percent of their rebounds.