NEW YORK - Florida State coach Pat Kennedy may have said it best yesterday in describing tonight's NIT final between his Seminoles and the Michigan men's basketball team.
"This is not a state championship, this is not a conference championship," Kennedy said. "This title tomorrow night will be a national championship."
And indeed, national recognition is on the line when the Wolverines (23-11) face Florida State (20-11) at 7:30 tonight at Madison Square Garden.
The two teams have hardly had similar roads to the Big Apple.
Michigan began the season ranked in the top 10, and rose as high as No. 4 before plummeting to an ignominious seventh-place Big Ten finish.
The Seminoles, meanwhile, have hardly felt the burden of great expectations. A middle-of-the-pack squad in the powerhouse ACC, Florida State posted big wins in January over nationally ranked North Carolina and Maryland, and followed those victories up by knocking off Clemson on its home turf and ambushing Wake Forest in Tallahassee.
For their efforts, however, the Seminoles finished the conference season exactly where the Wolverines did - in seventh place.
Florida State enters tonight's contest having come from behind to win its last two games. The Seminoles trailed by as many as 10 points in their quarterfinal meeting at West Virginia before edging the Mountaineers, 76-71.
And in Tuesday's semifinal against Connecticut, Florida State rallied from a five-point deficit in the last minute to force overtime, then shut the Huskies down for a 71-65 victory.
The Seminoles received a huge lift in the semifinal win from junior point guard Kerry Thompson. Thompson scored 20 points - including the 3-pointer with five seconds left in regulation that sent the game into overtime - while dishing out nine assists.
Playing at the Garden has been a homecoming for Thompson, a New York native. Thompson was so excited to play in the Garden, in fact, that Kennedy said his floor general hardly slept Monday night.
"Kerry had a very interesting and cute statement," Kennedy said. "He said he only slept 10 minutes the night before the game."
The Wolverines will also have to be on the lookout for the Seminoles' leading scorer, senior guard James Collins. Collins turned in a 29-point effort against Connecticut after a 24-point showing against West Virginia.
Although Florida State does have some size to throw at Michigan's burly frontcourt - in 6-foot-9 junior forward Corey Louis and 6-11 sophomore forward Randell Jackson - the big question mark is 6-10 senior center Kirk Luchman.
Luchman sprained his right ankle in the first half of Tuesday's game, and Kennedy is uncertain of Luchman's availability.
"We really need Kirk," he said. "We'll see in practice how he feels."
Kennedy floated the idea of an off-court meeting between the 274-pound Luchman and 300-pound Michigan sophomore center Robert Traylor.
"I thought we could get Kirk and Robert Traylor and have some sumo wrestling before the game," he said. "It might attract a little attention."
Not only must the frontcourt trio of junior forwards Maceo Baston and Maurice Taylor and Traylor dominate and intimidate in the paint, Fisher said, but bench play must also be a factor.
In Tuesday's victory over Arkansas, junior forward Jerod Ward broke out of his recent slump, scoring 15 points in 18 minutes as a reserve.
"Jerod came off the bench and had 15 very important points for us, and made a huge contribution" Fisher said.
"We've had good contributions from everybody, and I think (Tuesday's game) was indicative of that."
Fisher said he had many options in the way of entertainment last night, including taking in the Knicks-Pistons matchup at the Garden, but preferred to spend the night on Broadway before returning to make a run at Michigan's first NIT title since 1984.
"We have a dilemma as to whether we're (going to) the Knicks-Pistons game tonight, or go to see (the musical) 'Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk.'
"I think I'm leaning to the latter."
AP PHOTO
Michigan center Robert Traylor hopes the Wolverines find the same success tonight against Florida State as they did Tuesday against Arkansas.