Why FSU Football starting off 2019 unranked might be a blessing

FSU football will do something they haven’t done just twice since the opener of the 1982 season: start off the year unranked after the disaster that took place in 2018.

By now, the stories have been written in the hundreds of times when it comes to what took place with the FSU football team during the 2018 season – which is why there is almost no shock at all that, in addition to the streaks broken with that season, another one was snapped before the 2019 season has even kicked off.

When the coaches poll was released last week, it became just the third time since the 1982 preseason poll that something took place: that the Seminoles will start off their season against Boise State without a number by their names as they were not even close to being ranked in the top 25.

It’s something that is important because the two previous times came after major moments in FSU football history: the first was after the 1981 season, which was the last time the Noles didn’t go bowling before last season.

Florida State Seminoles Football

The second one? Well, that was after a 2007 season that was the second straight season of six losses – the first that happened since the last two losing seasons before…you guessed it, what took place last season.

So, why is it that I would have the audacity to even say that not being ranked to start off a season would be a good thing for the Seminoles? Easy…because what took place by the end of each season should give the Noles plenty of hope and, if it takes place, would shut up many of the haters of head coach Willie Taggart.

In 1982, FSU football got victories over a ranked Miami team and defeated Ohio State on the road to go along with a Gator Bowl victory over West Virginia to finish with a 9-3 record. In 2008, wins on the road over Miami and a ranked Maryland team led them to a Champs Sports Bowl win over Wisconsin and a 9-4 record.

There are plenty of people out there who are going to diss this story because they want Taggart gone after last season’s losing campaign, blaming him for everything even though FSU football was a disaster the way it was left to him – a disaster that was not fully covered when last season started with the Seminoles ranked in the top 20.

Now, FSU football finds themselves in a spot they need to be in – a team who not much is expected from who can shock the college football world. If things turn out the way they could, don’t expect the Seminoles to be numberless for too long.