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Florida State was left out of the NCAA Tournament each of the last three years and hasn’t reached the Final Four since 1972. There’s a good chance that could all change this season.

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Don’t be ashamed if you’re an ardent college basketball fan who instinctively pictures Osceola grasping his colorful spear and Renegade galloping toward midfield when Florida State is mentioned.

Jimbo Fisher springing to mind rather than Leonard Hamilton won’t deduct points from your basketball fandom if someone talking about the Seminoles hasn’t prefaced the conversation with thoughts about the hardwood.

Football reigns above all else in Tallahassee no matter the success or failures experienced in the gym. Thank Bobby Bowden, Fisher and three straight years of FSU failing to reach the NCAA Tournament for that omission of thought. But remaining ignorant to what the Seminoles are currently accomplishing on the basketball court only does yourself a disservice.

Florida State finishes a school-record stretch of six straight games against Top 25 teams when it hosts No. 12 Louisville on Saturday. It is 4-1 during that run so far, with the only loss coming at No. 9 North Carolina. The Seminoles ended Virginia’s 14-game ACC home winning streak, routed Virginia Tech and easily handled mighty Duke prior to that setback against UNC.

Possibly the most impressive effort came on Wednesday, when FSU escaped with an 83-80 home win over Notre Dame despite the Fighting Irish shooting 71 percent from three-point range. Notre Dame became the 19th team to hit at least 15 threes while shooting at least 70 percent since 2010-11, but the only one to lose a game when doing so.

The backcourt duo of Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes largely is responsible for the Seminoles’ 17-2 record, but it was freshman Jonathan Isaac taking a major leap forward against Notre Dame with 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. P.J. Savoy added 12 points and continues to be a threat off the bench.

Isaac has been mentioned as a potential lottery pick given his immense talent. And if he continues his recent play, the Seminoles could be on their way to their first ACC title in school history.

“You can see him gaining confidence as opposed to us trying to force him and pressure him,” Hamilton said after the win over Notre Dame. “He is making progress, and I think that as you continue to see him improve, you will see our team improve as well.”

Isaac is just one piece of a deep, athletic, well-rounded and dangerous team that is a legitimate threat to become the school’s first to reach the Final Four since coach Hugh Durham’s Seminoles lost to Bill Walton-led UCLA in the 1972 national title game.

But Hamilton isn’t getting ahead himself.

“We still have to continue to keep growing. We still have to get better,” Hamilton said after FSU’s win over the Irish. “The good thing, I think, is that we still have a lot of room for improvement.

“We have a lot of parts. We just have to be sure to utilize the right pieces at the right time.”

Hamilton has pushed the right buttons so far this year. He’s in his 15th season in Tallahassee, a tenure that doesn’t seem as long as it is. Hamilton has gone 295-189 during that time, a record that is just good enough to fly under the radar while not drawing attention to the 10 total years without an NCAA Tournament appearance.

The Seminoles reached the Sweet 16 under Hamilton in 2011 as a No. 10 seed, the furthest they’ve gone in the Tournament since Sam Cassell, Bobby Sura and Charlie Ward guided FSU to the Elite Eight in 1993.

Now, it’s Rathan-Mayes, Bacon and Isaac trying to help FSU make an NCAA Tournament run not seen since four years prior to the legendary Bowden arriving in Tallahassee.

Yes, football always will be synonymous with Florida State. But Hamilton’s Seminoles seem poised to join their gridiron counterparts on the national stage.

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