FSU Football: Jimbo Fisher says Noles need to prove they deserve high ranking

FSU football will start the season as one of the top three ranked teams – but the head coach says the hard part is now proving they deserve being there.

This week, the preseason accolades continued for FSU football as the Seminoles were ranked No. 3 in the first preseason AP poll of 2017. It’s the second time the Noles have gotten that number put next to their name – as the Coaches Poll for the preseason had them in the same spot when it was released a couple weeks ago.

With just over one week to go until the opening game of the season, now has come the hard part for Florida State: proving that they are one of the best three teams in the country. It starts with a heck of a test when the Seminoles take on top ranked Alabama in the highest ranked opening week game in the history of college football.

FSU football has had high expectations before – including last season when they were ranked number four to start the year and had two losses in the first five games. Thus, head coach Jimbo Fisher is reminding the team (and fans, for their part) that the Seminoles have to go out and prove they deserve such a high ranking.

Shortly after the AP poll was released Monday, Fisher went on ESPN’s SportsCenter and talked about what the rankings mean – or don’t mean:

Fisher hit the nail on the head with this one. 2016 is a prime example as the Seminoles were thought to be a playoff caliber team and ended up being, at one point, wondering if they could get eight wins on the season. In 2013, FSU football started the season outside of the top 10 and ended up being one of the best teams in college football history.

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All offseason, the Noles have heard how great this team is supposed to be and how they were going to take back the ACC and head back to the College Football Playoff. Now, all they have to do is go out for the next 15 games and prove they can live up to the hype.