TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ Leonard Hamilton is smiling a lot more these days.
His vision for the Florida State program, which has taken several seasons to develop into a team he believes can compete nationally and in the Atlantic Coast Conference, has finally come to fruition.
The expectations will continue to rise for the No. 9 Seminoles (16-1), who have raced out to a 4-0 start in conference play for the first time in school history and have earned a school-record 12 consecutive victories.
Saturday's game at No. 11 North Carolina (15-3, 3-1) will be no different as one of FSU's most valuable strengths this season will face its stiffest challenge against a comparable counterpart.
The Seminoles and Tar Heels sit atop the ACC as the two highest scoring teams in the league thanks to their ability to play upward of nine to 12 players in any given game this season.
"There are not too many teams in the ACC that can match our depth, but we've got a game that's coming up and I think they can match ours," FSU leading scorer Dwayne Bacon said after blowing out Duke at home Tuesday. "We just have to play as hard as we can on the defensive end, and it'll lead to offense. We'll see what happens."
Behind FSU's core four of Bacon, third-year guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, freshman forward Johnathan Isaac and do-it-all sophomore forward Terance Mann, Hamilton has found the right mix of true freshmen guards, junior college transfers and experienced big men to compete with a torrid pace.
Players like Rathan-Mayes used to play 30 or more minutes when the Seminoles lacked depth and were hampered by injuries in the past three seasons.
Now, players on FSU's extended bench play 10-15 minutes per game, starting in the heart of the first half to sustain the energy Hamilton wants his teams to play with against tough ACC competition.
True freshman guard CJ Walker says he joins Trent Forrest, Braian Angola-Rodas, PJ Savoy, Jarquez Smith, Phil Cofer and Christ Koumadje to make up Florida State's "boom squad."
"Those guys are coming in not only just to spell guys, they're coming in and contributing to the games," Hamilton said. "That's what allowed us to improve the way we have because they're giving us positive minutes when they're in the game."
UNC's lineup features continuity and experience, with juniors Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson leading a rotation of 10 players with seniors Nate Britt and Kennedy Meeks.
Jackson is the Tar Heels' top scorer with 17.7 points per game, while Berry averages 15.6 points and nearly five assists per game this season.
FSU is projected to be a No. 2-seed in Midwest bracket of the NCAA Tournament in Orlando, according to ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology projection posted Thursday.
The Seminoles are looking to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance since winning the ACC in 2012, but they insist on staying focused on the moment.
"We realize what's at stake: positioning at the top of the ACC that gives you the opportunity to have postseason life at the end of the season," Hamilton said. "We're trying to develop the mentality and clear understanding that it doesn't matter who you play, when they throw the ball up, it's an important basketball game."
