FSU Football: ESPN Still Has Noles Ranked High in Latest FPI Poll
By Jason Parker
FSU football is getting plenty of offseason love for the 2017 season – including finding themselves in playoff position according to the Worldwide Leader.
With spring football now in the rearview mirror, it won’t be long now until FSU football takes the field for a game that counts come September 2nd when they are in Atlanta to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide. Already, the Seminoles are finding themselves as one of the most talked about teams in the sport.
There are plenty of people who think the ‘Noles will be back in the College Football Playoff this season – for the first time since the inaugural four team system in 2014. Along the way, Florida State seems to have become an early favorite to win the ACC for the first time since that season as a result.
The latest testament to those thoughts comes from ESPN.com, who released their most recent Football Power Index rankings for the upcoming season – with just under five months to go until the opening kickoff. Here’s a look at the Top 10:
"No. 1 – Ohio StateNo. 2 – AlabamaNo. 3 – OklahomaNo. 4 – FLORIDA STATENo. 5 – AuburnNo. 6 – LSUNo. 7 – ClemsonNo. 8 – Penn StateNo. 9 – WashingtonNo. 10 – Wisconsin"
Florida State Seminoles Football
A couple takeaways from the latest poll give the Seminoles plenty to be happy about entering the offseason. In addition to saying that FSU football would be one of the four teams in this year’s playoff system, the Worldwide Leader also thinks it’s not even a close race for the conference title.
Florida State has 48.8 percent chance of winning the ACC according to this latest poll – while two time defending champs and current national champs Clemson come in a distant second at 19.8 percent. In-state rival Miami comes in at third place with a 16.4 percent chance, so right now it seems to be the Seminoles’ conference to lose in 2017.
The FPI doesn’t believe the ‘Noles will go 15-0 in the 2017 campaign, averaging Florida State to have 10.4 wins and 2.2 losses. The betting money seems to be the ranking thinking the Seminoles will lose the opener to Alabama and one conference game this season. Ohio State is the only team with a higher than 10 percent chance of going unbeaten entering the postseason.
FSU football will have their work cut out for them this season, as they will face six teams ranked in the top 22 of the latest poll. That is by far the most of any team ranked in the top 10 (yet somehow the Seminoles only have the 13th toughest schedule – thanks a lot, Delaware State).