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FSU Football: Noles have the toughest schedule in 2018

By Kelvin Hunt

TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 01: Florida State Seminoles fans during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Gammons/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 01: Florida State Seminoles fans during the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Doak Campbell Stadium on October 1, 2016 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Jeff Gammons/Getty Images) /
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FSU football will not have the luxury of playing an easy schedule in Willie Taggart’s first season in Tallahassee.

FSU football has been the best college football program over the past 30 years. Aside from three National Championships, FSU can make the claim because they have consistently played one of the toughest schedules in the nation each season.

The 2018 season will be no different in Willie Taggart’s first year at the helm. We’ve long said FSU’s 2018 will be brutal, and now Athlon Sports has named FSU’s schedule the toughest in the nation:

"The Notre Dame contest is the first of three games against preseason playoff contenders. The Seminoles play at rival Miami and host national powerhouse Clemson. That Clemson showdown is sandwiched between dates against physically tough and upset-minded ACC Atlantic Division counterparts Wake Forest and NC State, which head coaches Dave Clawson and Dave Doeren have built into legitimate threats. Their combined ascent, as well as the defensive physicality customary at Boston College and talent at Louisville, have made the Atlantic arguably the best top-to-bottom division in football.Couple that with Florida State drawing what should be the Coastal’s two best teams — Miami and Virginia Tech — and this is no doubt the toughest schedule in 2018."

Thoughts

The argument could be made for the ACC Atlantic as the toughest division in college football. However, it’s not the same division as last year as several teams lost a ton of talent.

FSU football usually reloads instead of rebuilds and should enjoy a talent gap over most teams they face in 2018.

On top of that, they’ll have coaches committed to the program and an upgrade in defensive philosophy/situational tactics (i.e. third down defense).

Virginia Tech’s defense has been depleted and could be playing without their starting quarterback against FSU.

Miami is a bit overrated based on their defense from last year creating turnovers at a unsustainable rate.

Louisville will be without Lamar Jackson and several other experienced players. The same could be said for NC State except they’ll feature arguably the best quarterback in the conference in Ryan Finley.

Wake Forest and Boston College should be solid teams the Noles can’t overlook.

If the Noles can stay healthy I expect the three biggest challenges to be Clemson, Notre Dame and probably NC State with that game in Raleigh.

Next: Top 5 Dark Horse Candidates of 2018

However, if the injury bug strikes in key places, it’s certainly possible FSU could lose at least four games.

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