Florida State Named Men's Basketball National Champions by State Senate

The Florida Senate passed a resolution Friday naming the Florida State Seminoles the 2020 college basketball national champions after the NCAA tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

ESPN reported the measure passed by a 37-2 vote and that it will be presented to Noles head coach Leonard Hamilton and FSU president John Thrasher "as a tangible token of the sentiments of Florida State."

The Seminoles finished the regular season 26-5, including a 16-4 mark in conference play to capture the ACC regular-season title and the top seed in the ACC tournament, which was ultimately canceled before the team could play in the quarterfinals.

Florida State was ranked fourth in the country in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls before the season was halted.

The Noles were given a 2.6 percent chance of winning the NCAA tournament by TeamRankings and a 1.7 percent chance of cutting down the nets by ESPN BPI.

However, ESPN's Dick Vitale said he would have selected Florida State in his bracket:

The Florida Senate's resolution will likely lead to copycat measures around the country. The Kansas Jayhawks, Duke Blue Devils, Gonzaga Bulldogs, Baylor Bears and Dayton Flyers were among the other chief title contenders ahead of Selection Sunday.