FSU football ranked 10th in 2024 Preseason AP Poll, will face three top 20 teams

The 2024 Preseason AP Poll was released Monday, and FSU football was in the No. 10 spot. It's the same spot as the Preseason Coaches Poll released recently, and there wasn't much difference overall between the two polls. Four ACC teams made the cut, with NC State a few spots lower than in the Coaches Poll. I'm not going to rant and rave about who FSU should have been higher than because I did that with the Coaches Poll here. I want to focus on the teams FSU will face who could find themselves in the top 20 at some point.

FSU will face No. 14 Clemson, No. 19 Miami, and No. 7 Notre Dame. There are two more teams FSU will face who could find their way into the top 25 by the time they face FSU. SMU and North Carolina. SMU doesn't play any ranked teams in the first four weeks, but they have a shot at going into the FSU game undefeated at 4-0. I could see them creeping into the rankings there. North Carolina plays a relatively weak schedule in 2024, and I could see them going into the FSU game at 7-1 or 6-2. That could be enough to get them into the top 25, depending on what other teams lose. All the other teams on the schedule likely don't have a real shot unless it's Memphis late in the year. They don't play anyone good before traveling to Tallahassee for their third game, and winning its first two games won't be enough to put them in the top 25. So FSU could face five top 25 teams on its 2024 schedule. They played two top-25 teams in the regular season last year.