NCAA Football Preseason Rankings: #4 Florida State Seminoles

July 12, 2011

NCAA Football Preseason Rankings: #4 Florida State Seminoles

College Football 2011-2012 Preview: #4 Florida State Seminoles

Are you ready for some football? We are now less than two months away from the start of the 2011 college football season. Anticipation is building and there is no clear favorite this year. It seems the race for the BCS National Championship is wide open. I’m up to my fourth ranked team in the country, the Florida State Seminoles.

Florida State Seminoles 2011-2012 College Football Preview and Predictions

Coach: Jimbo Fisher

2010 Record: 10-4 (Beat South Carolina in Chick-fil-A Bowl)

Florida State Odds from 5Dimes

Florida State to win the BCS Championship: +1200

Florida State to win ACC Conference Championship Game: +170

Jimbo Fisher is off to a fabulous start in his reign as the Head Coach at Florida State. Fisher not only took this team to a ten win season in 2010, but he also brought in what almost every recruiting service called the top recruiting class in 2011. Expect this deep and talent-filled class to contribute right away for the Seminoles.

Team Strengths:

Florida State has all kinds of returning talent on offense. The Seminoles return their top five running backs from a season ago. They also return every player on their team that caught ten passes or more in 2010.

Though the offense will be good, it will likely be the defense that paves the way. You won’t find a better secondary in the nation than the Seminoles have. The Seminoles top two corners, Greg Reid and Xavier Rhodes, are both fantastic athletes and solid cover corners. The front seven is big and extremely athletic. This Florida State defense is starting to look like the type of defense they fielded in the 1990’s, which is bad news for their competition.

Team Weakness:

E.J. Manuel has all the potential in the world, but he has to show that he can consistently be the man at the quarterback spot. Manuel is extremely athletic and he has a big arm, but his decision making has been questionable in the past. In addition, though the Seminoles return a lot of receivers, they lack a consistent go to receiver.

Schedule:

A quick look at the schedule and you’ll see that the Seminoles host the Oklahoma Sooners on September 17. The winner of this game will have a great chance at getting to the BCS Championship Game. Don’t overlook the trip to Clemson, where Florida State has struggled mightily in the last few years. The troubling aspect for Florida State is these two difficult games appear back-to-back on their schedule in September.

2011-2012 Florida State Football Predictions: 13-1 (Winner of ACC Championship Game)

It’s risky to predict this many wins for the Seminoles with a question mark at the quarterback spot, but there is a ton of talent in Tallahassee this year. Fisher is building a consistent title contender, and I think people will really see the athleticism of the Seminoles this year. I expect them to lose one of their two tough contests in September and then win out the rest of the way.

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Kyle Hunter

is full-timesports writer and sports handicapper. You simply won’t find someone who loves sports more than Kyle. Kyle considers college football and college basketball his two favorite sports. Kyle has earned many accolades for his highly successful handicapping, and he writes full-time for many top sports websites. Keep an eye out for high quality free sports analysis from Kyle!

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