A little bit of breathing room can make a big difference. Florida State's men's cross country team knows that quite well.

The Seminoles' second-place finish at the recent NCAA regional meet gave them an automatic berth in today's NCAA championship meet. And this was not the season for anything but certainty. The team knew at regionals that an at-large bid was no guarantee.

"There were so many upsets at other regionals, we really would have been biting our nails to know whether we were in or not," junior Matt Leeder said.

The wait for the at-large bid wouldn't have been long, but avoiding that wait gave the No. 20 Seminoles a nice emotional and psychological boost heading into the title meet. FSU is healthy for the first time in a while and coach Bob Braman feels the team is still on the upswing.

"You have to be," Braman said. "It's such a massive physical challenge. Cross country is just a hammer."

In the Seminoles' eyes, the biggest meets of the year were the NCAA regionals and championships. To prepare for those, Braman said the team took a few chances earlier in the season. They used earlier meets to train rather than go for the win.

Wins would have protected Florida State when the at-large bids came around. The team could have given its fingernails a rest with the announcements were made and might not have needed to go all out at the regional meet. But it got FSU to Terra Haute, Ind., Braman said, and that's what matters.