Florida State has not enjoyed life on the bubble.

The Seminoles, trying to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998, have come excruciatingly close in each of the last two seasons - just missing the 65-team field on both occasions.

"We've had good basketball teams and for different reasons, we've come up short," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "The [players] are hungry, and that's why I think we're going to have a good year - they've learned through the struggle. The disappointment has created in the guys a sense of urgency and a focus that is 'by whatever means necessary.'"

Two years ago, Florida State was perhaps the most celebrated team to miss the NCAA Tournament. The 'Noles were 19-9 on Selection Sunday with a 9-7 ACC record and were coming off an upset victory over No. 1 Duke in the last week of the regular season, but a weak non-conference schedule hurt FSU.

Junior Guard
Toney Douglas

Hamilton's response was to improve his out-of-conference slate. The Seminoles played (and beat) national champion Florida last season and took on such powers as Wisconsin and Pitt on the road. The team's non-conference strength of schedule improved from 316th nationally to 111th - and with the ACC slate thrown in, Hamilton's team finished with the nation's 20th strongest schedule overall.

Yet, the 'Noles became the first ACC team in the recent (64- or 65-team) NCAA Tournament era to have 20 wins on Selection Sunday and not get a bid. This time it was the team's five-game losing streak in late February - a losing streak largely due to the wrist injury that sidelined starting point guard Toney Douglas.

The 6-1 Auburn transfer returned to action in the regular-season finale and hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to help the 'Noles win at Miami, then played 35 minutes in an ACC Tournament victory over Clemson. Douglas' absence and return wasn't enough to get FSU over the selection hump.

"It seems like you go through periods when things seem to go against you," Hamilton said. "When I look back at all the progress we've made ... of all the places I've been, this team has made the fastest progress. It's just that we've had some unfortunate things to deal with."

Indeed, last year's 22-13 record (FSU's most wins since 1993) was especially impressive when the pre-season loss of the team's top big man is factored in. Alexander Johnson, the 2006 starter, jumped to the NBA a year early, after averaging 13.8 points and 8.1 rebounds.

As a matter of fact, FSU was 17-6 and No. 19 in the RPI when Douglas was hurt. The impact of his absence was obvious - in the 23 games before he was hurt, the Seminoles averaged 75.9 points a game and shot over 48 percent from the field; in the five games he missed, FSU averaged 65.4 points and 40.6 percent shooting; after his return, the 'Noles averaged 76.3 points and hit 55.2 percent from the field.

Although senior Al Thornton was justly honored as the team's best player, those numbers make a strong case that Douglas was one of the ACC's more unsung heroes.

That's vindication for the junior from Jonesboro, Ga. He left Auburn after winning freshman All-America honors in 2005 because of doubts about his ability to play the point. And while his play-making stats at FSU (87 assists, 73 turnovers) weren't dazzling, his ability to run the team's offense - while still contributing his own offensive punch (12.7 points a game) - demonstrated that he's become an effective point guard.

Senior Guard
Jason Rich

"Toney made tremendous progress [as a point guard] over the course of the year," Hamilton said. "I think he just had it figured out when he broke his hand. He gave us good offensive production as well as running the team."

Douglas expects to be an even better playmaker this season.

"Last year was a good experience - I was always learning," he said. "The main thing was to get to know my teammates. Now I'm very comfortable playing with these guys. I know what they can do."

Unfortunately, Douglas won't have Thornton back as a target for his passes. The FSU forward, who led the ACC in scoring and finished second to Boston College senior Jared Dudley in the ACC Player of the Year vote, will be playing in the NBA.

But Douglas does have two deadly offensive players on the wing. Both 6-2 senior Isaiah Swann and 6-3 senior Jason Rich averaged 10.3 points a game last season. Swann was a little better as a long-range shooter, hitting 68 3-pointers and shooting 41.0 percent from beyond the arc. Rich was a bit more effective taking it to the basket, shooting 52.5 percent from the floor and earning more free throws than anybody on the team, other than Thornton.

Hamilton's hopes for big improvement rest on the addition of two young big men to his lineup.

Solomon Alabi - a 7-1, 237-pounder from Lagos, Nigeria - and 6-10, 245-pound Julian Vaughn from the powerhouse prep program at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, should provide the size and strength that FSU lacked a year ago.

"We think they fill the void we had last year - our lack of physicality inside and our lack of a shot-blocker," Hamilton said. "[Alabi] is a very good athlete. He can run and jump and he's very aggressive. [Vaughn] has a 7-foot-3 wingspan and has the ability to play inside or outside. Last year, he played on a team with a lot of outstanding guards, so he wasn't that involved on the offensive end. Instead, he developed into an outstanding rebounder."

The addition of the two young big men should allow last year's out-of-position post performers to return to their normal games. Hamilton suggests that 6-9 junior Uche Echefu will blossom as a power forward who can step out to shoot the mid-range jumper. And Casaan Breeden, a slender 6-8 junior, will be able to return to his natural wing position.

The pieces for another NCAA run are in place. The Seminoles are determined to bust through the bubble this time.

"We haven't been able to finish, and that's what has ultimately caused us not to be in the tournament the past two years," Swann said. "The key for us is to not leave it up to the committee. Get it done ourselves; we have 31 games to do it."

STRENGTHS: A balanced offensive punch from as good a trio of perimeter scorers as there is in the league - Toney Douglas, Isaiah Swann and Jason Rich.

CONCERNS: Inexperience in the post. As talented as Solomon Alabi and Julian Vaughn appear to be, both are just freshmen and will have to avoid normal growing pains.

NEWCOMER TO WATCH: Alabi is an impressive physical specimen. His standing reach is 9-foot-1, but he's rarely standing - he can get off the floor. His combination of size and athleticism mark him as an eventual NBA-quality big man.

EARLY TESTS: Florida State must visit two-time defending national champion Florida on Nov. 23, then take on Minnesota at home four days later in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The 'Noles take on Butler in Indianapolis on Dec. 15, then visit Providence on Dec. 22.

Isaiah Swann returns for his third consecutive season as a member of the Seminoles' starting line-up ... finished seventh in the ACC in three-point field goals made (1.94) per game as a junior ... made nine three-point field goals against Mississippi State in the NIT quarterfinals ... averaged a career-high 10.3 points per game as a junior ... is shooting .372 from the three-point line for his career... ranks ninth in school history with 151 steals.

Jason Rich has averaged in double figures scoring in each of the last two seasons and is the Seminoles leading active career scorer with 823 total points in 95 career games ... averaged 10.3 points per game as a junior last year following a 10.0 ppg mark as sophomore in 2005-06 ... has 74 career starts ... averaged 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists last year while starting all but one game.

Uche Echefu averaged 6.9 points, 4.3 rebounds per game as a sophomore last season ... was second on the team with 20 blocked shots and was one of only two Seminoles to start every game in 2006-07 ... averaged 7.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in 16 ACC games during the season ... made 58 of 75 free throws (.773) and had 15 games with five or more rebounds.