Florida State's Bowl Hopes Already in Jeopardy

Florida State has gone being an outside national title contender to fighting for its bowl life in 10 days

Nick Shepkowski | Sep 2, 2024

Sep 2, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles quarterback DJ Uiagalelei (4) is tackled against the Boston College Eagles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. / Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

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Florida State has gone from being felt sorry for being left out of the College Football Playoff last December to the nation's biggest disappointment just 10 days into the 2024 season.

The 10th-ranked Seminoles lost college football's first game of the year last Saturday in Dublin as they were upset by Georgia Tech. This week they returned home to Doak Campbell Stadium where Boston College had its way with them.

Florida State won't be ranked when the updated polls come out and beyond that, just making a bowl game is looking like a tough ask this season.

Memphis, one of the best teams in the Group of Five comes to Tallahassee next week and it would like nothing more than to state its case for the College Football Playoff by upsetting Florida State.

The ACC is far from great but if Florida State has shown us anything its that they can't view anyone in the league as a sure thing.

Vs. Cal, at SMU, vs. Clemson come after the Memphis game. Those three haven't shown any signs of being special but two weeks into this Florida State season is anyone confident in a 2-1 stretch there?

At Duke, at Miami, and vs. North Carolina then come. Duke and the Seminoles could be a race to 10 while a whole lot of built up rage could be taken out by the Hurricanes during that trek to Miami. North Carolina with its backup quarterback could be another race to double digits.

Then its a trip to Notre Dame, which was supposed to be among the toughest games of the year for the Fighting Irish. Instead that one now is a name brand opponent on what appears to be Notre Dame's weakest home schedule in recent memory.

Could FSU start 0-6? Next 4 games - Memphis, Cal, at SMU, Clemson. Still have Miami and ND on sked. Are we looking at a 4-8 team here?
— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) September 3, 2024

Charleston Southern should be a win but Florida to close the regular season is certainly no gimme, even with as bad as the Gators looked against Miami.

Mike Norvell has a track record of success and should have the trust of the Florida State faithful, but unless some major changes take place (mainly at quarterback) then there is a real threat this Seminoles squad will be watching bowl season from home.

For Notre Dame that means an already weak handful of games against the ACC only looks that much less impressive with each Florida State debacle.