Florida State Seminoles – The News Desk

What is Florida State’s next move? Life at the epicenter of CFP and realignment drama

22Dec

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What is Florida State’s next move? Life at the epicenter of CFP and realignment drama

Burnt orange flashed and the University of Texas logo filled the screen, as the Big 12 champion Longhorns locked in the first College Football Playoff berth in program history as the No. 3 seed. Moments later, the red and black of the Georgia Bulldogs appeared next to No. 6, leaving the two-time defending national champions out of the four-team field.“Florida State or Alabama — one spot,” said Rece Davis, host of ESPN’s selection show. “Whoever is No. 4 plays Michigan. No. 5, heartbroken.“Who’s No. 4?”Davis paused as the nation waited to see whether the 13-person selection committee had done what many in college football believed was unthinkable by leaving out an undefeated Power 5 conference champion.And then the reveal: One-loss Southeastern Conference champion Alabama – not undefeated ...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asks for $1 million for Florida State to sue CFP committee over snub

6Dec

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asks for $1 million for Florida State to sue CFP committee over snub

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the College Football Playoff committee Tuesday and said he is asking for $1 million in the state’s budget to let Florida State sue the committee over its decision to exclude the team from the Playoff.DeSantis spoke about the decision at a news conference related to his spending proposal, which calls for a $114.4 billion budget for Florida. DeSantis said his children are Seminoles fans and were not happy with FSU’s exclusion from the Playoff.“My first-grader, my fifth-grader and my preschooler … they are all ‘noles and they are big-time fans and they do the tomahawk chop and they were not happy,” DeSantis said, according to the Associated Press. “We are going to set aside $1 million and let the chips fall where they may.”It will be months before a budge...

Why college football’s identity crisis resulted in Florida State being cheated

4Dec

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Why college football’s identity crisis resulted in Florida State being cheated

This sport’s identity crisis has existed since the inception of the College Football Playoff a decade ago, but never before have we had to come to terms with it the way we did on Sunday.That identity crisis? Whether the teams that play for the national championship should be the best or the most deserving. In the nine years before this season, the best and most deserving seamlessly became one, resulting in cut-and-dried decisions on which teams would make the field.In the final season of the four-team era — before it expands to 12 in 2024 — the CFP committee was charged with a very difficult decision that was guaranteed to result in a worthy team feeling cheated. The committee, for the first time, was actually going to have to choose what it values more — the teams that earned it or the t...

What the College Football Playoff got wrong: Leaving out Florida State

3Dec

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What the College Football Playoff got wrong: Leaving out Florida State

Next year, all this College Football Playoff arguing will be moot with the CFP expanding to 12 teams. Arguing over Nos. 3, 4 and 5 is very different than 10, 11, 12 and 13. You lose your benefit of the doubt when you lose games. Even in the SEC.But this year is still a four-team field, and with so many variables factoring into the decision, there is a lot to dissect. And to state it plainly: the College Football Playoff committee got it wrong. College football has, or at least it used to have — up until right now — the best regular season in sports because the games mattered most. We have a smaller sample size in this sport than in any other.To leave out an undefeated 13-0 Florida State team in a Power 5 conference was the wrong decision.Michigan and Washington, both undefeated with top-1...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 13: Conference title clashes will tell all

28Nov

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 13: Conference title clashes will tell all

The 2023 season comes down to conference championship weekend. We could have the simplest and most impressive College Football Playoff field in the 10-year history of the event, we could have complete chaos or we could have something in between, with a little bit of last-minute drama.Michigan’s win against Ohio State moves the Wolverines up to No. 2 in this week’s rankings and leaves four undefeated Power 5 teams entering the weekend. If Georgia, Michigan, Washington and Florida State win, it’s an easy selection. But the SEC, Pac-12 and ACC games could be very competitive and see undefeated teams lose, giving the committee its hardest decisions since 2014.Oregon still likely has the strongest case among one-loss teams. The Ducks were the top-ranked one-loss team by the committee last week...

Women’s college basketball power rankings: South Carolina returns to a familiar spot

22Nov

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Women’s college basketball power rankings: South Carolina returns to a familiar spot

If the hope was that two weeks of basketball would have given a clearer picture of the hierarchy in women’s college basketball this season, that has not been the case. In fact, most of my conversations since Nov. 6 have featured some variation of, “Wait, is Team X good?”Aside from South Carolina at the top — stop me if you’ve heard that before — every other projected contender has taken its lumps. While the Gamecocks roll through their opposition, most teams around the country need some time to figure out new rosters and systems. Growing pains were expected, like LSU and Virginia Tech integrating new transfers, or Maryland and Indiana dealing with the graduations of WNBA first-round picks.Nevertheless, on the whole, the quality of play around the country has been better than expected. But...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 12: Washington deserves more respect

20Nov

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 12: Washington deserves more respect

It’s time to put some respect back on Washington’s name.The Huskies are undefeated and have the best win in the country, based on these rankings, but they have continually sat outside the top four of the College Football Playoff selection committee’s in-season rankings. That needs to change this week. After pulling out a 22-20 win against Oregon State on a rainy night in Corvallis, Washington has the most impressive resume in the country. The Huskies move up to No. 2 in this week’s Athletic 133.Washington has wins over Oregon, Arizona, Utah, Oregon State and USC. Nobody can match that many good victories. Yes, the Huskies needed a pick six and a questionable penalty to escape Arizona State and played Stanford close, but no team blows everyone out every single week.Quarterback Michael Peni...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 11: Which 10-0 contender is the top dog?

14Nov

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 11: Which 10-0 contender is the top dog?

We’re finally in the stretch run. The biggest games have arrived, and the shakeup at the top is underway.Michigan finally played a notable team, taking care of Penn State in Happy Valley. Georgia crushed a top-10 Ole Miss team. Washington held on against Utah and Oregon handled USC. They all have more big games to come in the next two weeks before conference championships.After all of that, there is a change at the top here. Georgia is back to No. 1 in this week’s Athletic 133.The two-time defending national champs have rounded into form, beating up on Kentucky, Florida, Missouri and Ole Miss in their last five games. This past week was a reminder that Georgia at its best again looks like the best team in the country. Oh, and Brock Bowers, one of the nation’s best pass-catchers, is back. ...

College basketball coaching tiers 2023: Dan Hurley moves into Tier 1, John Calipari falls

26Oct

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College basketball coaching tiers 2023: Dan Hurley moves into Tier 1, John Calipari falls

In a sport with 362 teams, one would have to be a dummy to attempt any contextualization of the hierarchy of the coaches who lead the game.Fortunately, we’re not one, but three, such dummies.This is Year 2 of The Athletic’s Men’s Basketball Coaching Tiers. (See last year’s here.) This exercise is meant to go beyond the subjectivity of a numeric coaching ranking or the inherent callousness of the dreaded annual Hot Seat list.Instead, we break down coaches into tiers, trying to find lines of demarcation among groups of coaches, then take those tiers to multiple authorities throughout college hoops, glean their opinions, tweak the tiers as necessary and share our findings with you.Is it a perfect method? No.Will you probably be angry about your favorite coach? Probably.But we’re trying.Crite...

Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 8: Ohio State on top as Penn State, USC slide

23Oct

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Ranking 133 college football teams after Week 8: Ohio State on top as Penn State, USC slide

Sign up for the Until Saturday newsletter | Jayna Bardahl and The Athletic’s college football staff deliver expert analysis on the biggest CFB stories five days per week. Get it sent to your inbox.Week 8 turned out to be Survival Saturday within much of the top 10.Washington escaped Arizona State, thanks to a picked-up flag and a late pick six. Oklahoma escaped UCF by stopping a late two-point conversion. Texas escaped Houston with a fourth down stop. Florida State came back to beat Duke, a game that turned when Duke quarterback Riley Leonard was injured again.As a result, there is a shakeup in this week’s Athletic 133 and a new No. 1: Ohio State. The Buckeyes beat Penn State 20-12, holding the Nittany Lions to a 1-for-16 performance on third down. That gives Ohio State two wins over curr...