Where does Florida State fall in very early 2023 preseason rankings?
The 2022 college football season just came to an end Monday night.
And yet, the focus of some people has already turned to a 2023 season that is still almost eight months away with way-too-early top 25s for the upcoming season released from a variety of outlets Monday night.
For the first time in years, Florida State features heavily in these rankings. The Seminoles jumped out to a 10-3 record in Mike Norvell's third season and could very well emerge as a trendy College Football Playoff pick this offseason.
Where do a number of national outlets have FSU in these very early 2023 polls?
ESPN enters the offseason extremely high on FSU. The Seminoles come in at No. 4 in the rankings behind only No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan and just ahead of No. 5 Alabama.
No. 15 Clemson and No. 21 North Carolina are the only two other ACC teams included in this top 25. Aside from the Tigers, the only other ranked team here that FSU will face in 2023 is No. 8 LSU, with the two teams set to open the season in Orlando Sept. 3.
Here's the FSU outlook, as written by ESPN's Chris Low: "It has taken longer than Florida State hoped, but the Seminoles have finally turned the corner and might be a legitimate ACC title and CFP contender in 2023. In coach Mike Norvell's third season, the Seminoles won 10 games for the first time since 2016 and won their last six contests. Quarterback Jordan Travis might be a Heisman Trophy candidate next season and most of his top running backs and receivers are expected to return. Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin can talk about being the transfer portal king, but Norvell has used it as well as anyone. Top tight end transfers Jaheim Bell (South Carolina) and Kyle Morlock (Shorter) are nice additions. Two starters will have to be replaced on the offensive line; Jeremiah Byers, an All-Conference USA selection at UTEP, and Casey Roddick, a team captain at Colorado, might be able to step right in. Darrell Jackson (Miami) and Braden Fiske (Western Michigan) will add good depth to the defensive line, which welcomes back Fabien Lovett and Jared Verse, a potential top-10 pick, who returned for one more season. Fentrell Cypress was one of the better cornerbacks in the portal."
Brett McMurphy of the Action Network is in agreement that FSU will be a top-five team right now entering the 2023 season. He also has the Seminoles at No. 4 behind No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Michigan and just above No. 5 Ohio State. Action Network's power rating ranks FSU at No. 7.
As far as teams on FSU's 2023 schedule, McMurphy has LSU at No. 6, Clemson at No. 9 and Pitt at No. 22. Louisville (No. 20) and UNC (No. 23) are the other two ranked ACC teams in the poll.
Not everyone is quite as high on FSU as these first few college football experts are. Although FSU is set to bring back a great deal of its starters from the 2022 team, Bill Bender of Sporting News seems to believe that FSU has to prove it belongs in that stratosphere, putting the Seminoles 12th in his early top 25.
Even this far down, FSU is still the highest-ranked ACC team in Bender's rankings, coming in just ahead of Clemson at No. 14. However, he sees LSU (No. 6) over the Seminoles in what should be one of the most anticipated Week 1 games of the 2023 season. UNC is the third and final team in these rankings at No. 22.
Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports is on the higher side of analysts when it comes to optimism about FSU entering the 2023 season. He has the Seminoles at No. 6 behind Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, USC and Alabama.
LSU is right on the Seminoles' heels at No. 7 and Clemson is the next-highest ACC team at No. 13. UNC at No. 19 is the final ACC team in what is becoming a trend across a number of these rankings.
David Kenyon joins the list of college football analysts predicting FSU will begin the 2023 season as a top-10 team. He's got FSU at No. 8 in his early rankings just behind Penn State at No. 6 and Notre Dame at No. 7.
Clemson is right behind FSU at No. 9 and Kenyon is lower on LSU than most, putting the Tigers at No. 12. He's also got UNC at No. 20 and NC State at No. 25.
Like a few others above, PFF's Max Chadwick is extraordinarily high on FSU entering next season, with FSU at No. 4 in his rankings behind Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State.
He's also got LSU at No. 8, Clemson at No. 11 and UNC at No. 20. Want to know why Chadwick is so high on the Seminoles? Allow him to explain in a video he posted which contains some great PFF insight into FSU's returning and new players.
Count Paul Myerberg of USA Today as another media member buying into the FSU hype. He's also got FSU at No. 4 behind Georgia, Michigan and Alabama.
Clemson is at No. 8, LSU is at No. 11 and UNC is at No. 18 behind them.
Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde is not as high on FSU as some. He has the Seminoles 10th in his early top 25. Despite this, FSU remains the highest-ranked ACC team, a few spots ahead of Clemson at No. 14. UNC is the third ranked team at No. 16.
By contrast to his thoughts on FSU, Forde is higher than LSU on most, putting the Tigers at No. 3 behind only Georgia and Michigan.
Stewart Mandel of the Athletic also has FSU in the top 10 at No. 8. Like a few others, he's got LSU above the Seminoles at No. 4.
Again, he's got Clemson comfortably below FSU at No. 15 and North Carolina as the only other ranked team at No. 20.
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