FACTS & STATS: Site: Charlotte Bobcats Arena (20,200) -- Charlotte, North Carolina. Television: Raycom. Home Record: Florida St. 13-4, Wake Forest 15-2. Away Record: Florida St. 4-6, Wake Forest 2-10. Neutral Record: Florida St. 1-3, Wake Forest 0-0. Conference Record: Florida St. 7-9, Wake Forest 7-9. Series Record: Wake Forest leads, 22-15.

GAME NOTES: The 55th-annual ACC Tournament gets underway this afternoon in Charlotte, as the ninth-seeded Florida State Seminoles take on the eighth- seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Charlotte Bobcats Arena. The winner of this game has the unenviable task of taking on the top-ranked and top-seeded North Carolina in quarterfinal action on Friday. Leonard Hamilton's Seminoles finished the year with a decent 18-13 overall record, but struggled in- conference with a 7-9 ledger. However, FSU played well down the stretch, winning four if its last five game. Dino Gaudio's Demon Deacons won their regular season-finale against NC State (78-67), bringing an end to a four-game losing streak. An extremely dangerous team at home, 15 of the team's 17 overall wins came in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons won both regular season meetings with Florida State and now hold a 22-15 edge all-time against the 'Noles.

The Seminoles are a defensive team by nature and rank third in the conference in scoring defense, yielding just 69.0 ppg. Despite the defense-first approach, there is plenty of balanced scoring on the roster in Tallahassee. Veteran guard Toney Douglas is the top option for FSU at either end of the floor, ranking eighth in the conference in scoring at 15.8 ppg and first in steals (2.77 per game). For his efforts, Douglas picked up All-ACC Third-Team accolades. He is joined by three other double-digit scoring threats in Jason Rich (14.2 ppg), Ralph Mims (11.4 ppg) and Uche Echefu (10.0 ppg). A fourth double-figure scorer, Isaiah Swann (11.8 ppg), went down with a knee injury in early February and players like freshman forward Jordan DeMercy have seen increased minutes as a result. This opening round game will represent Leonard Hamilton's 600th game coached in his career.

The Demon Deacons lack the overall scoring depth that Florida State possesses and that will certainly hinder any chance of going deep in this tournament. Wake Forest is averaging 72.6 ppg on the year, but is shooting a rather mediocre .433 from the floor and an equally bland .320 from behind the arc. James Johnson is the team's top player, also earning All-ACC Third Team honors, while pacing the Demon Deacons in both scoring (14.8 ppg) and rebounding (third in the conference at 8.1 rpg). Jeff Teague is the only other double-digit threat to speak of, adding nearly 14 points per game (13.8) to the cause. L.D. Williams (9.0 ppg) and Ishmael Smith (8.6 ppg) add limited offensive support, although Smith is more active as the team's offensive distributor, ranking fifth in the conference at 4.7 apg.

The Demon Deacons have just two wins outside of Winston-Salem and although they have already beaten the Seminoles twice this year, completing the hatrick is no easy task. Go with FSU in this one, as the 'Noles squeak by to the next round.

Predicted Outcome

Florida State 69, Wake Forest 66