West Region goes along without its top two seeds

LOS ANGELES» Gonzaga, Michigan and Texas A&M are no strangers to the Sweet 16.

Florida State? It’s been 25 years for the Seminoles, who are brimming with confidence after knocking off No. 1 seed Xavier last weekend.

“Nobody had us here,” Seminoles guard Braian Angola said.

Texas A&M took care of defending national champion North Carolina in the second round, ensuring neither of the region’s top two seeds would be in Los Angeles.

The Aggies are seeking to make the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

“The first time you get in a situation like this you’re celebrating and everything’s about having fun,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. “You want your guys to experience it all. Sometimes you experience too much of the success.”

That wasn’t the case with the start of SEC play in late December. After being ranked fifth early on, the Aggies lost their first five conference games and dropped off the radar.

They endured suspensions and injuries along the way.

“I believed that we could get it corrected, and I knew we had the pieces,” Kennedy said.

Florida State has moving parts. The Seminoles use a 10- and 11-man rotation, which goes against what most teams do in reducing their bench as they go deeper into the postseason.

“Very, very impressive,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton suggested it’s more about survival in the ACC against traditionrich programs such as North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, Louisville and Notre Dame.

“We feel that we can compete a lot better if we have more guys to share the load where we don’t put all that responsibility on one or two particular players,” he said.

His players appreciate his trust in them.

In the first regional semifinal, it’s seventhseeded Texas A&M vs. No. 3 Michigan:

The Wolverines (30-7) bring an 11-game winning streak — third-best in the nation — into their fourth Sweet 16 berth in six years.

Defense is the hallmark of the Aggies (22-12). They held opponents to 32 percent shooting on 3-pointers and limited them to 40 percent from the field overall.

In the late game, No. 9 Florida State takes on No. 4 Gonzaga, which brings a 16-game winning streak — the nation’s best — into Staples Center and is the only team in the country to be appearing in a fourth straight Sweet 16.

Florida State (22-11) knocked off higher seeds in its first two tournament games: No. 8 Missouri and No. 1 Xavier.