Since the 2000 season, FSU football has seen its ups and downs. FSU competed for a national title in 2000 after winning it all in 1999.
The program slid into what most fans called the lost decade until Jimbo Fisher became the head coach before the 2010 season. Fisher quickly turned the program around and won its third national title in the 2013 season with arguably the best college football team of all time.
FSU made the inaugural College Football Playoff in 2014 and began to slide back toward mediocrity before another huge peak in 2023 with an undefeated regular season.
The Noles hit rock bottom in 2024 with a 2-10 record. Despite all of the ups and downs, FSU checked in at No. 12 in Stewart Mandel's best teams programs since the 2000 season.
Not sure how Alabama isn't No. 1 and Oklahoma is getting too much credit for getting smacked in the postseason after winning the title by defeating FSU in 2000. Clemson should be ahead of the Sooners with two national titles and a better postseason record. Oregon has never won a national title, so they can't be that high. Michigan is too high and getting a lot of recency bias.
Notre Dame at No. 13 is questionable since they haven't won a national title since 1988. Miami won a national title in 2001 but hasn't won anything since joining the ACC in 2004.
FSU is by far the youngest program on this list, and considering the "Lost Decade," where FSU was still among the most winning programs in college football. Plus, they always played tough schedules and didn't pad their win totals by playing a ton of scrub teams. Plus, the 2-10 season a year ago, it's still amazing that FSU is at No. 12 and could reasonably be in the top 10. FSU has 216 wins since 2000, which ranks 13th among all college football programs.