When Stanford beat Oregon last week it propelled Florida State to No. 2 and into pole position for a berth in the national championship game against Alabama. With ACC conference rivals Clemson and Miami already brushed aside, is there anybody left to ruin the Seminoles’ hopes of BCS glory?
In short, no. Florida State have faced three ranked opponents this season who have all came from within the ACC - No. 25 Maryland, No. 3 Clemson and No. 7 Miami. In those games Jimbo Fisher and his men have put a beat down on opponents, winning the three games by a combined 163-31. That’s right, Heisman Trophy forerunning Jameis Winston’s offense is scoring just under 55 points per game against ranked opponents.. The most impressive victory came on October 19th when the ‘Noles marched into Death Valley and knocked off the No. 3 Clemson Tigers 51-14.
Before the season began – besides the game with Clemson – a trip to the swamp in the final week to challenge the Gators looked like a must-watch tie. However, with Florida’s injury problems they are a miserable 4-5. And although they shouldn’t be written off completely, it would be a big upset if they came through and spoiled this party. This week sees Syracuse visit Doak Campbell Stadium. The Orange have had a rollercoaster season and shouldn’t pose much threat on the road. The same goes for Idaho next week. The Vandals are conceding 45.7 points per game while scoring just 18.8. In truth, the final three games should be a procession for Florida State.
Injuries to Miami have more or less ruled them out of an appearance in the ACC championship game which means Virginia Tech or last year’s Coastal winners Georgia Tech will battle that one out. Both pose their own unique problems. The Hokies for example have one of the best defenses in college football while the Yellow Jackets play a tricky, triple-option offense. With that said, Florida State rank 4th in the FBS in points allowed per game (12), and we have already spoke about that deadly offense.
Should the Seminoles fail to make it to the national championship in Pasadena they will have only themselves to blame. If, and it’s not a big if, they make it to the showdown with Alabama, it will be one of the great games in modern football.