Florida State started its basketball season on Monday night, and it could not have come at a better time. With football being so bad that they just fired Mike Norvell, this has been the most anticipated basketball season in the last 5 years.

It wasn't a high-profile matchup, but it was an interesting one, as the Seminoles faced their cross-town rival, Florida A&M, in a neutral-site game in Tampa.

As it should've been, this was a mismatch from the beginning. Florida State had six offensive rebounds in the first four minutes, and even though the shots weren't falling, they were getting to the free-throw line at will.

Marcis Ponder made an impact immediately, starting the season with two putbacks on offensive rebounds. And while the offense wasn't working, the defense absolutely was. FSU completely suffocated FAMU on that end of the floor. Even when the Rattlers made shots, they were often well-contested.

It's not often that you'll see a team be up 10-0 in fouls, but that's what happened here. The sheer size of Marcis Ponder had one of FAMU's bigs pick up four fouls in the first 9+ minutes of the game.

Once the shots started falling, it was quickly over. Sebastian Rancik finally found some offensive momentum after having some rough moments in the preseason, scoring 14 points in the first half on 5/8 shooting, including two three-pointers.

With Ponder clearing out space down low, driving lanes were there, and that just led to more free throws. With FSU leading 54-27, they shot 23 free throws.

Florida State coasted through most of the second half as they let their depth gain some experience. Guys like Martay Barnes, Brandon Bass Jr., and Elisee Assui had some really bright flashes, but they had some learning experiences, which were needed in a game like this.

Bass Jr. had a wild poster in transition in the second half. I was expecting the lob to Kameron Taylor trailing, who is one of the freakier athletes in college basketball, but this works, too.

BRANDON. BASS. JR. 🫨😤💪

ESPNU 📺 | #ALLIN🍢 pic.twitter.com/FIeLGrbVkk

— Florida State Men’s Basketball (@FSUHoops) November 3, 2026

Florida State would go on to win 112-69. Florida A&M closed the game on a 7-0 run after FSU cleared the bench, but FSU still beat the spread by 17 points. Here are three takeaways from this blowout.

Team Defense Was SUPERB

It can be hard to really gauge how well a power conference team is playing against a low-major team. Florida A&M doesn't have the talent to consistently hang with a team like Florida State. But you can learn a lot by watching how FSU is rotating on the back end, how they're contesting shots, and if people are being left open.

Florida A&M may have had three open shots in the first half. Florida State was suffocating on that end of the floor. They did a great job of mixing traps, zones, and straight man-to-man, but even when they were in man, they did such a great job of rotating from the weak side to close passing lanes.

I look forward to seeing what this defense looks like against Florida.

I Wanted More Sebastian Rancik and Anthony Robinson II. We Got It

Sebastian Rancik and Anthony Robinson II weren't great in the preseason games, so I wanted to see more of what they could be. We saw it in this game.

Rancik scored a career-high 25 points on 8/12 shooting, including 2/5 from three and 7/8 from the free-throw line. He looked in total control of his game and played with a lot of confidence.

Robinson finished with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals, shooting 7/10 from the floor. He was superb in the second half and constantly got to his spots, which is exactly what I wanted from him.

FSU's Ability to Get Free Throws

What I love most about this team is how many people can attack the basket. Between Robinson, Rancik, Shon Abaev, Kameron Taylor, Martay Barnes, and Elisee Assui off the dribble, and Marcis Ponder and Alex Steen down low, there is so much pressure on the rim.

That's going to lead to a lot of trips to the free-throw line, as we saw in this game. Florida State shot 34 free throws and made 26. I expect that to be a trend moving forward.

Florida State will be at home on Friday to play Troy.