LOS ANGELES – Michigan is three games into its NCAA Tournament run, and three more would put the Wolverines on top of the college basketball world.
Right now, John Beilein and his team are focusing on an Elite 8 matchup against Florida State, which is playing its best basketball of the season.
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Despite struggling in the opening weekend against Montana and Houston, Michigan turned it up in the Sweet 16, demolishing Texas A&M, 99-72. It was an offensive masterpiece for a team that has thrived off of its defense for the majority of the season.
Meet Florida State
Florida State offers a much different kind of challenge than the three teams Michigan beat to get to this point. Few teams have the combination of length and athleticism that the Seminoles have to offer, and that allows them to create turnovers on defense, leading to a deadly fast-break attack.
Head coach Leonard Hamilton is known for going deep into his bench. Florida State has 11 players who appeared in more than 20 games this season and 10 players who average more than 10 minutes per game.
READ: 4 X-factors for Michigan basketball vs. Florida State
Florida State flew under the radar for the most the season until back-to-back wins over West Region favorites Xavier and Gonzaga. In those games, Hamilton used an 11-man rotation, and at least nine different players got on the scoreboard in each game.
Hamilton is inclined to use a deeper rotation because of Florida State's playing style. The Seminoles like to create offense off of their defense, even if it means taking more risks on the defensive end. As a result, FSU ranks No. 33 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 44 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
Balanced scoring attack
Michigan is known for having several players that can take over the game on offense, but Florida State takes it to another level. There are nine players who average at least 6.5 points per game for the Seminoles, led by a trio of veterans scoring more than 12 points per game each.
Terance Mann is FSU's leading scorer at 12.9 points per game, but Phil Cofer and Braian Angola are right behind at 12.7 points per game.
Mann is a matchup problem at 6-foot-6, 215 pounds. He has great length and attacks the basket on the fast break and the half-court offense. He's not much of an outside shooting threat, but he makes 56.5 percent of his shots overall.
Mann also leads the team with 5.5 rebounds per game.
Angola is another 6-foot-6 guard, but he shoots 37.6 percent from beyond the arc. He dishes out three assists per game, second only to Trent Forrest, who averages 7.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
The size of Florida State's guards could give Michigan trouble on the defensive end.
FSU's season
There wasn't much hype surrounding Florida State in November, even though the Seminoles earned a No. 3 seed in last year's NCAA Tournament before bowing out against Xavier in the second round.
FSU jumped on the map with a 9-0 start to the year, including a 17-point road win over then-No. 5 Florida. Though they finished 9-9 in the ACC this season, the Seminoles picked up several wins over tournament teams, including North Carolina and Clemson.
Like Michigan, FSU only had one truly bad loss: a Jan. 31 defeat at Wake Forest, which finished the season 11-20.
Even though Michigan blew out Texas A&M by 27 points, the Elite 8 game should be much more competitive. Florida State lost 11 games this year, and eight of those losses were by single digits. The three blowout losses all came during a stretch in which Florida State finished the season 4-6.
How to beat FSU
When Michigan plays like it did against Texas A&M, it can beat any team in the country. When Florida State plays like it did against Gonzaga, it can beat any team in the country.
There's a reason these teams are in the Elite 8, and records, seeding and past performances will be thrown out the window at 8:49 p.m. Saturday.
Like Texas A&M, Florida State has a significant size advantage against Michigan, but unlike A&M, Florida State has the athleticism to play with Michigan.
The Wolverines couldn't make a shot during the first weekend but exploded for 14 3-pointers in the Sweet 16. Michigan isn't likely to duplicate that shooting performance, but a few early shots need to fall to open up the offense.
Duncan Robinson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman combined for 6-10 shooting beyond the arc in the Sweet 16, opening up the lane for Abdur-Rahkman and Charles Matthews. Beilein's offense is deadly when shots are falling, because defenders have to leave the lane open to drives or close out a second late on shooters.
Michigan could really take advantage of the turnover battle, as Florida State ranks 177th in the nation with 13 turnovers per game. In the Sweet 16, Michigan took full advantage of Texas A&M's 14 turnovers and buried the Aggies early with points off of those turnovers.
The Seminoles were down nine points with 5 1/2 minutes left against Xavier and have been dominant ever since. Michigan is the best defensive team left in the NCAA Tournament and will try to be the first team in the bracket to slow down the Seminoles offense.
Beilein is trying to get his team back to the Final Four for the first time since 2013, when Michigan lost to Louisville in the national championship game. In their last Elite 8 appearance, the Wolverines lost to Kentucky on a 3-pointer in the final seconds.