No. 8 Florida State provided a huge shock at the start of the college football season by humbling Alabama. Well, what goes around comes around. They themselves were humbled on Friday night at the hands of the Virginia Cavaliers.
Chandler Morris threw three interceptions, but his two TD tosses and three scoring runs listed his team over Tommy Castellanos and the Seminoles. FSU was a touchdown-favorite, so this was a surprising upset, one that will cost Mike Norvell's squad.
The problem for Florida State is their win over Alabama is likely en route to losing even more of its shine. FSU made a massive leap into the Top 25 on the strength of that win. But what if Alabama continues to falter? While the Tide have rebounded with two victories, they face Georgia on Saturday. A win would boost the Seminoles' résumé. A loss, especially not a close one, would only slide Bama further down the Top 25 and warrant a bigger slide for FSU as well.
For now, we don't know the outcome of Alabama vs. Georgia. All we know is Florida State fell to Virginia. So let's work with what we have and rethink these rankings.
Projected college football rankings after Florida State upset by Virginia
- Ohio State
- Miami
- Penn State
- LSU
- Georgia
- Oregon
- Oklahoma
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Indiana
- Texas Tech
- Ole Miss
- Florida State
- Iowa State
- Tennessee
- Georgia Tech
- Alabama
- Vanderbilt
- Michigan
- Missouri
- USC/Illinois
- Notre Dame
- Virginia
- TCU
- BYU
How far should Florida State fall after Virginia loss?
I won't drop Florida State behind Iowa State, because they still have an impressive win on their record. And a double-OT loss to a rival for the ACC title isn't the most embarrassing result possible. It's certainly not a season-ender.
There are some other factors to take into account. The result of the LSU vs. Ole Miss game will likely impact FSU's fall. If the Rebels lose, there's cause to keep the Seminoles in front of them too. But if the Rebels beat the Tigers, I don't see LSU falling behind FSU, while Ole Miss will rise into the Top 10.
It gets interesting considering the Alabama vs. Georgia result. Would the Bulldogs drop below Florida State if they lost to the Crimson Tide? After all, FSU beat them thoroughly. We can assume one thing: The Seminoles will stay in front of Alabama. The higher Bama climbs, the higher FSU should as well.
Virginia makes its case for a Top 25 slot
At 3-1 going into Friday's game, Virginia wasn't ranked or receiving votes. I expect that to change after this thrilling outcome. The Cavaliers are now in the driver's seat with a perfect record in the ACC (remember, their Week 2 loss to NC State was a non-conference game).
So I've got Virginia moving into the Top 25 at the expense of USC or Illinois. The Trojans and Illini face off early on Saturday. One of them will lose and fall out of the rankings. Either way, there will be room for the Cavaliers to make a big leap.