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It’s an exciting time to be a college football fan, and one fan base that is excited for the season is Florida State football fans. The Seminoles have a lot of hype coming into this year after their undefeated regular season, and they have the College Football Playoff on their mind.
We're almost there. Another long college football offseason is almost over as the calendar now reads August, and the first games will begin on the 24th. College football fans everywhere are eager for the new beginning. College football fever is rampant across the country as we get closer to the season, but this offseason was a bit easier than others because of the new EA Sports NCAA 25 video game that just came out in mid July.
First off, there are going to be some rules changes this year in college football, and some fans aren’t going to like them. Perhaps the biggest change is the addition of the two-minute warning, like in the NFL. If you are like most college football fans, you're getting sick of the amount of commercials that we see during games. Well, the two-minute warning is just another way for TV Networks to pack another break into the action.
There are more changes, however, and these are ones that more fans are in favor of, but some still don't like them. College football is going to look completely different next year because of expansion to the College Football Playoff to 12 teams and conference realignment. California schools playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference? Yeah, things are changing.
Conference realignment has made things look a lot different. The power five is no longer a thing as the Pac-12 is essentially dead. Every team left for a new conference except for Oregon State and Washington State. Those two teams have scheduling alliances with the Mountain West, but they aren't actually in the conference.
Every other Pac-12 school found a new home. Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State are now in the Big 12. Oregon, Oregon State, USC and UCLA joined the Big Ten. Lastly, Cal and Stanford joined the ACC (makes a ton of sense, right?).
The other big change with conferences comes in the SEC. Oklahoma and Texas are both leaving the Big 12 and they will join the SEC. The Big Ten and the SEC are loaded with good teams, and some think that things could be heading in the direction of two super conferences.
This season, we will also see 12 teams make the College Football Playoff instead of just four. For about a month, the College Football Playoff will be happening. Some people aren’t in favor of the big expansion, but there will be more marquee college football games, and it’s hard to be too upset about that.
All in all, this is going to be one of the biggest college football seasons of all time. The game is changing, and this is the start of a new era.
Florida State football has a chip on their shoulder
Florida State football is coming into the season angry. When the four-team College Football Playoff era was first introduced, college football fans all had one common thought: What would happen if all five power conferences had an undefeated champion? That was the only scenario that people thought of where an undefeated power five conference champion would be left out of the playoff. The years went on, and the situation never came up. Then, in the final year of the four-team era, the committee was put in their most difficult spot yet.
There weren't five undefeated power five champs. There weren't four either, there were three: Michigan, Washington and Florida State football. Going into the selection show, it was clear the fourth spot was down to 13-0 ACC champ Florida State or 12-1 SEC champ Alabama. One team was going to be very mad. The fourth spot went to the Crimson Tide.
Florida State won every game on their schedule, including the ACC title game, and they did not qualify for the College Football Playoff. It was something that we never thought we would see, but it happened. The reason why they were left out was because of an injury to quarterback Jordan Travis. Their offense wasn't the same without him, so the committee gave the nod to Alabama, the team that they thought was better.
Now, the Seminoles are coming into the 2024 season with a sour taste in their mouth. They want that College Football Playoff berth, and it will be much easier this year as there will be 12 teams that make it. Florida State is certainly a top contender, but this one thing could stop them from qualifying.
Inexperience
Lack of experience is definitely a bit of a concern this season for Florida State football. Heading into the 2023 season, the Seminoles were one of the most experienced teams in college football, and they had a ton of hype coming into the year. They lived up to that hype as they went 12-0 in the regular season and won the ACC. Florida State ranked first among ACC teams in returning production last year.
This year, NC State is the team returning a ton of their production from a year ago in the ACC, and Florida State ranks 83rd in the country in terms of returning production. The great programs are ready to reload and do it again each season, so we're going to find out a lot about the Seminoles this year.
The good news for Florida State is that their quarterback, Oregon State transfer DJ Uiagalelei, is one of the most experienced QBs in the nation. That is definitely a position where you want experience. However, some of their most explosive offensive playmakers from last year departed, and their returning production on defense is a bit of a concern.
Florida State is bringing back 69.5% of tackle production from a year ago, however they have just 12% of passes defended production coming back, 10.5% of TFL (tackle for loss) production coming back and 8% of sack production coming back.
The Seminoles need to reload. They lost a lot of their top talent from a year ago, and now, new players to step up and pick up the slack. That's what the great programs do. If Florida State football misses the College Football Playoff, it will probably be due to lack of experience.
