Everybody's ACC schedule is ridiculous because the ACC is ridiculous. But Florida State's first seven league games were especially tough. Each one came against a top-50 RPI team. And six were against schools that were ranked in the Associated Press poll at the time the game was played.
The result?
FSU went 6-1 in those games.
Impressive stuff.
The lone loss was last weekend's loss at North Carolina that was preceded by wins over Wake Forest, No. 16 Virginia, Virginia Tech and No. 18 Duke. It was followed by a victory over No. 15 Notre Dame and Saturday's 73-68 win over No. 12 Louisville that pushed the Seminoles to 18-2 overall and 6-1 in the ACC.
Here are three takeaways from FSU's latest big win:
1. FSU won despite struggling offensively
It's difficult to beat a legitimate top-20 team while shooting 36.7 percent from the field, 25.0 percent from 3-point range and 69.4 percent from the free throw line. But the Seminoles did it -- mostly because they held Louisville to similar numbers that were worse in some cases. The Cardinals shot just 38.5 percent from the field, 15.4 percent from 3-point range and 66.7 percent from the free throw line. So this ESPN-televised game didn't look anything like the Warriors-Rockets game shown on the same channel a night earlier. But the capacity crowd inside the Donald L. Tucker didn't seem to mind. A win is a win. And this was a good one.
2. The switch has flipped for Jonathan Isaac
Isaac has been good all season, right from the jump. But he's playing more consistently now and stringing double-doubles. Before Wednesday's 23-point, 10-rebound effort against Notre Dame, the 6-foot-10 freshman had not produced a double-double in consecutive games. But now, thanks to Saturday's 16-point, 10-rebound effort against Louisville, Isaac has three straight double-doubles and five on the season. He's averaging 18.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.0 blocks in FSU's past three games. Just a special, special talent. He's starting to show on the court in big games that matter why an NBA franchise will use a lottery pick on him come June.
3. This might be the year Leonard Hamilton finally does it
Hamilton has been the Big East and ACC Coach of the Year four times total. He's made the NCAA Tournament seven times and advanced to the Sweet 16 twice.
But he's never won an outright league title.
He shared one in 2000 but has never won one outright in any of the previous 28 seasons he's spent as a college head coach. So wouldn't it be wild if he got his first in what might be the deepest and toughest league in history?
To be clear, I'm not predicting it -- if only because I'm not sure anybody will win the ACC outright. Plus, it's worth noting that five of Florida State's first seven ACC games have been home games, which means seven of the final 11 will be road games, including the next three. It's possible that'll be their undoing.
But that's not the point.
Here's the point: FSU is positioned to win an outright league title -- not to mention earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. And, yes, the latter is very much on the table because Florida State will enter Wednesday's game at Georgia Tech with A) a 6-1 record against top-25 RPI teams, B) a 9-1 record against top-50 RPI teams, C) zero losses to schools ranked outside of the top 70 of the RPI, and D) zero home losses.
That's a strong resume.
And, absolutely, this is a Final-Four caliber team.