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It would seem to be a foregone conclusion.

With Sean Maguire entering his fourth year in the program, and no other candidate having even taken a snap in a Florida State uniform, it stands to reason that Maguire will be a heavy favorite to win Florida State's starting quarterback position when spring practice opens Wednesday.

Even Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher, who vows to make it an open competition as long as he has to, acknowledged recently that Maguire's experience will be a major factor. The redshirt junior has played in 13 games over the past two seasons and even started last year's huge matchup with Clemson, passing for 300-plus yards in a 23-17 victory.

"He's been in live action, been in big games, and knows the offense," Fisher said earlier this month, as the Seminoles wrapped up Fourth Quarter Drills. "He's been in the system."

From an experience standpoint, there is no comparison.

FSU's next most experienced quarterback is third-year sophomore John Franklin, who spent much of last fall at wide receiver before moving back to QB late in the season. Then there is redshirt freshman J.J. Cosentino, who has been on campus for less than a year, and January enrollee De'Andre Johnson. Another true freshman, Deondre Francois, will arrive this summer.

But judging by Fisher's history with quarterback competitions, there is no guarantee the most experienced player will win the job.

Dating back to 2000, when Nick Saban hired him as offensive coordinator at LSU, Fisher has presided over six truly open quarterback competitions - years when he didn't have a returning starter or a veteran who was a clear frontrunner for the job.

While none of those competitions will have any bearing on this one, it does run contrary to the notion that a quarterback needs to be immersed in it for years to understand Fisher's pro-style offense. In fact, Fisher was quick to point that out during his most recent media session, mentioning that Jameis Winston and JaMarcus Russell had success as redshirt freshmen.

Winston, of course, won the Heisman Trophy and led FSU to a national championship in his first season. Russell started four games as a redshirt freshman and finished the year with 1,053 yards passing with nine touchdowns and four interceptions.

Fisher also reminded reporters that in his very first season at LSU, Josh Booty and Rohan Davey learned his system quickly and combined to have a very impressive year, passing for 2,982 yards with 27 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

When choosing the starter, Fisher said several factors will come into play: Knowledge of the offense, the ability to lead teammates, the confidence and intelligence needed to manage the game, and also a high level of consistency.

"You've got to find consistency," Fisher said. "What do you do consistently? And then you can build off of that."

While fans would certainly love for Fisher to name a starting quarterback this spring - and the media will certainly ask him about it repeatedly - history shows that likely won't be the case. In most of his previous quarterback competitions, Fisher has waited until preseason camp to announce a decision.

"I'll have a plan when I see it," Fisher said. "Let 'em play … if you see it, you see it. If you don't, we'll work and continue to improve."

No matter who wins the job, Fisher said he has no problem tailoring his game plans around the starter's best characteristics.

"We'll do what they can do," Fisher said.

Here's a look at the six wide-open quarterback battles during Fisher's time at LSU and Florida State.