The Florida State Seminoles have a schedule that’s very favorable, en route to the first College Football Playoff. Though they don’t play another ranked team, the ‘Noles have tightroped through their schedule to date with narrow wins over Notre Dame and Clemson.
1. Louisville Cardinals
This is the team that could truly pull off an upset against Florida State, even though the Seminoles will be favored (probably by at least a touchdown if not 10 points) when they face the Cardinals. Louisville will be playing at home on a Thursday night on national television. The Cardinals will have had an off week before this game and they are going to make this game their equivalent of the Super Bowl. They have a coach in Bobby Petrino who has won a big bowl game, the Orange Bowl, and has led another team, Arkansas, to the Sugar Bowl. Petrino is one of the brightest minds in college football, and he will be ready to exploit Florida State’s defense, which has been inconsistent and banged-up all season. Florida State should probably win the game, but it will likely be close. If they’re going to slip up before the playoffs, it will happen at Louisville.
2. Miami Hurricanes
This team has the second best odds of beating Florida State, mostly because it is hosting the Seminoles. Being able to play Florida State on its home turf will give Miami some incentive and a little extra bit of comfort. The Hurricanes have not been what they once were more than 10 years ago, but you know that Miami head coach Al Golden desperately wants to be able to beat Florida State so that he can begin to sell top recruits on his program. If Golden can break through, he can turn around Miami and lead the Canes to greater rewards in the future. Miami is going to play with energy, probably enough to stay close for one half. If Miami can stay close into the third quarter and Florida State makes mistakes, you never know what can happen.
3. Boston College Eagles
The Seminoles host the Eagles, so they should be in very good position to win this game as well. However, Boston College did play Florida State close for two and a half quarters last season. Florida State needed a Hail Mary touchdown pass on the last play of the first half to build momentum going into the locker room at halftime. Without that play, Boston College could have conceivably remained close for all 60 minutes. Boston College probably won’t stay with Florida State the whole way this year, but the Eagles played FSU tougher than many other teams did last year.
4. Virginia Cavaliers
The Cavaliers have a tough defense that limited UCLA to only seven offensive points in the season opener. Virginia has contained other offenses with pretty good reputations this season like Louisville and Duke. The Cavaliers, if they can get a few turnovers from Jameis Winston, might be able to bother the Seminoles longer than most people expect. Yet, Virginia has to play a nearly perfect game just to have a shot and it’s in Tallahassee.
5. Florida Gators
The Gators have just about no chance against the Seminoles, since they do not have the quarterback or the offense needed to threaten Florida State’s defense. Even if Florida’s defense plays well, how will the Gators’ offense do anything of note against the Seminoles? Florida’s defense will probably have to score directly in order to keep this game close at all.
