Florida State's 2024 season means more than what happens between the lines after the Seminoles were unfairly shut out of the College Football Playoff last year, as head coach Mike Norvell and his team are motivated to prove the doubters wrong again.
The good news for FSU is that if it wins a second straight ACC championship, it won't have to worry about the 12-team field — the top five teams in the conference championships will automatically qualify for the playoffs.
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On Monday, On3 analyst Andy Staples tried to predict which teams will be in the running for the inaugural CFP with four or more teams. Staples used his top 25 rankings from the end of spring training to make his prediction, with the Seminoles climbing up the list.
Florida State went from No. 7 in the rankings after spring training to No. 3 in playoff projections. For that projection to come to fruition, the Seminoles would need to win the ACC and go undefeated through bowl season.
In this scenario, FSU would have a BYE week and then play the winner of No. 6 Oregon and No. 11 Tennessee in the Peach Bowl. Despite being the ACC Championship, the Seminoles would not automatically play in the Orange Bowl, as the Orange Bowl is set as a semifinal this year.
“Because the Orange Bowl is a semifinal game, ACC champion Florida State will not be able to play its quarterfinal in the Orange Bowl this season, pushing the Seminoles to the Peach Bowl and Kansas State to play in the Fiesta Bowl,” Staples wrote.
The Seminoles have not been selected for the College Football Playoff since it was introduced to the sport in 2014. But the new system will give nearly half of the top 25 teams a chance to compete for the national championship.
The schedule is favorable for FSU, with the team hosting Clemson, Florida, North Carolina, Boston College, Memphis, California and Charleston Southern at home and traveling to Notre Dame, Miami, SMU and Duke. The schedule also includes the season opener against Georgia Tech on Aug. 24 in the Irish.
It won't be an easy task, as the Seminoles will be replacing their leading passer (Jordan Travis), leading rusher (Trey Benson) and leading receiver (Keon Coleman) on the offensive side of the ball, as well as their leading tackler (Tatum Bethune), sack leader (Jared Barth), pass deflection leader (Leonard Green) and interception leader (Jarrian Jones) on the defensive side of the ball.
So Norvell went into the portal to add players who could make an immediate impact, such as DJ Uiagalelei, Malik Benson, Roydell Williams, Marvin Jones Jr. and Earl Little Jr. The preseason camp will essentially be about making sure the team is ripe in all respects before an international trip.
Other programs listed in Staples' predictions are No. 1 Ohio State (Big Ten champions), No. 2 Georgia (SEC champions), No. 4 Kansas State (Big 12 champions), No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Oregon, No. 7 Texas, No. 8 Michigan, No. 9 Notre Dame, No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 11 Tennessee and No. 12 Boise State (Mountain West champions).
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