Duke Basketball: Date with Florida State Key to Blue Devils' Hopes for Top Seed

Like clockwork, Selection Sunday is right around the corner and the Duke Blue Devils find themselves in the mix, albeit on the fringes, for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Trouble is, pedigree alone will hardly suffice for Mike Krzyzewski's squad to land such a coveted spot this time around.

According to kenpom.com, the Blue Devils sport just the 12th-highest RPI in college basketball, despite an overall record of 23-4, a No. 5 ranking in the AP Poll and a No. 4 ranking in the Coaches Poll.

Of course, losses to both Florida State and Miami at Cameron Indoor Stadium don't help Duke's case, though at least the Dukies will have an opportunity to avenge the former defeat on Thursday night in Tallahassee. It was just over a month ago that the Seminoles stuck a fork in Duke's 45-game home winning streak, courtesy of a clutch three-pointer by Michael Snaer at the buzzer.

Since then, the Blue Devils have continued to struggle in Durham, suffering a loss to the lowly Hurricanes and narrowly edging St. John's and North Carolina State in surprisingly scary nail-biters.

On the other hand, they've done tremendously well when leaving campus of late, demolishing Maryland, Virginia Tech, Boston College and, thanks to the audacity of Austin Rivers, stealing a win in Chapel Hill against hated North Carolina. Add to these Duke's neutral-court victories over Michigan, Michigan State and Kansas, and it would appear as though Coach K's club consists of some grizzled road warriors.

Whatever the actual cause of this cognitive dissonance, the fact remains that Duke may actually be better off playing away from Cameron Indoor when they face FSU. After all, what better way for the Blue Devils to boost their already-solid resume and separate themselves from the pack in the ACC by beating a ranked Seminoles squad on the road?

Especially since Leonard Hamilton's team does most of their best work at the Donald L. Tucker Center.

Not that doing so will be a walk in the park whatsoever for Duke. The Devils have dropped their last two games against the 'Noles, who've won 10 of their last 11 contests.

Still, with veteran players like Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly and the Plumlee brothers—not to mention the moxie of the "Diaper Dandy" Rivers—the Blue Devils should be able to survive the onslaught that's coming their way as they pursue another ACC title and (fingers crossed) one of the top four seeds in the March Madness tournament.

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