Florida State Seminoles: Do they Still Have a Shot?

The Florida State Seminoles were picked by many to play for the BCS National Championship this season. One of the reasons they were a favorite may be the reason one loss may be one too many to get the Noles to the big game though. That is their weak schedule. The ACC is never a football power like the SEC or Big 12. They aren’t even the Big 10 or Pac 12. Basketball reigns supreme in the ACC. But this year, they are even worse than normal.

The ACC has had Miami get blown out twice, NC State lose to Tennessee in a loss that looks worse now than it once did, Georgia Tech lose to Middle Tennessee State and Virginia Tech lose three games already to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and North Carolina. Duke is one of the best teams in the conference at 5-1 and 2-0 in ACC play. When Duke is threatening to make a trip to your championship game, your league is bad.

So losing a game in this conference is a damaging loss. And FSU managed to do that last week at N.C State. The Noles blew a 16-0 lead by allowing a touchdown on a fourth and goal in the closing seconds to drop a 17-16 decision to the Wolfpack. Florida State dropped to 12th in the rankings. With a bunch of ACC cupcakes left on their schedule, they’ll need a lot of help.

One thing that helps is their in-state rivals, the Florida Gators keep winning. The Gators are 5-0 with wins over Texas A&M, Tennessee and LSU. If they can beat South Carolina and Georgia before coming too Tallahassee, they give FSU a chance for that signature win. Will that be enough? That depends on how many unbeaten teams are by the time all the dust settles leading up to the bowl games. Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida are all in the top five. Only one can come out of the season undefeated. That helps a bit. West Virginia has an awful defense. If someone like Oklahoma can slow their high powered offense just a bit, look out.

Oregon must get by Stanford and/or USC three times. That’s a tough three=game sweep. And they had better not sleep on Oregon State either. The Beavers are in the top ten right now.

So there are losses out there for the teams ahead of FSU. The Florida game is looking bigger every week. So while they are not in as good of a position as they once were, Florida State is not out of it just yet.

So check out sites such as Bovada where you can get 50-1 odds on Florida State to win the BCS National Championship. That’s a risk well worth taking.