Florida State Football Has Something to Prove to AP Voters

It should come as no surprise that Florida State was left off the AP preseason Top 25, but for a coach sitting on one of the hottest seats in America, if Mike Norvell doesn’t find a way to get the Noles on that list by Thanksgiving, he could find himself out of a job.

Florida State being left out of the Top 25 before the season has become the norm under Norvell. The Seminoles have been left out of the preseason rankings in five of the seven years he has been in Tallahassee. It tells fans that under Norvell, Florida State no longer gets the respect they once did.

“There's no respect associated with Florida State football anymore,” former Nole Bryant McFadden said. “The respect that was once there as a perennial contender in ACC conversations is no longer there.”

It's easy to see why the respect is gone. At 7-17 overall and 3-13 in ACC play over the last two seasons, it would be an understatement to say Florida State has had a disappointing stretch.

After that stretch, the Seminoles would have needed one of the greatest offseason in program history to get themselves into the preseason rankings. Unfortunately for Florida State, its offseason was nowhere close, with the Seminoles’ transfer portal class ranking No. 28 nationally, according to 247Sports.

Florida State was left out of the AP Top 25, but three ACC teams did earn a spot on the list. The highest-ranked team is in-state rival Miami at No. 7, followed by SMU at No. 19 and Louisville at No. 24.

The Seminoles will have a chance to prove the voters wrong having to face all three ranked ACC teams during this season. Florida State opens ACC play on Sep. 7 against SMU. The Seminoles then travel to Louisville on Oct. 9 before heading to Miami on Oct. 17.

Florida State will also face No. 13 Alabama in one of their non-conference games on Sep. 19. With two of Florida State’s first three games coming against ranked opponents, voters could get a good sense of whether they made the right decision very early in the season.

Being included in the Top 25, or even the top 10, is no guarantee of success. In 22 of the last 23 seasons, at least one preseason Top 10 team has finished the year unranked. The only season it didn’t happen was 2019.

Norvell has firsthand experience that being included in the AP Top 25 doesn’t guarantee success. The Seminoles started the 2024 season ranked No. 10 but finished unranked after winning just two games.

Now, it’s up to the Seminoles to earn that respect back and prove the AP voters wrong. For Norvell, failing to do so could mean his time in Tallahassee is coming to an end.