TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida State Seminoles have never won a national postseason tournament. The program has played in nine consecutive tournaments, including four straight NCAA appearances and five in the NIT — each has ended in a loss.

Playing in this year’s NIT was a letdown for a team with NCAA tournament aspirations. Florida State was one of the teams on the NCAA tournament bubble thanks, in part, to a January-February stretch in which the Seminoles lost seven of 10 Atlantic Coast Conference games.

The Seminoles (22-13) responded to win three of their final four regular season games, then added an ACC tournament victory to their resume. The run was too little, too late. But the Seminoles didn’t hang their heads, and now the top-seed in the NIT has advanced to the semifinals for the first time since 1997. A win against No. 1 seed Minnesota (23-13) on Tuesday puts them in the championship game.