Florida State football, recruiting news: Two ACC teams in the playoff?

Football:

When the College Football Playoff Rankings first debuted two years ago many casual, and not so casual, college football fans thought an ACC team had to be undefeated in order to make the playoff; and laughed at the thought of two ACC teams getting into the playoff while mocking four SEC West teams into the playoff. In the first two years the former was proven true with both FSU and Clemson getting in undefeated but the tide on that narrative seems to be turning. Many analysts including ESPN’s Andrea Adelson think that if the playoff was to have two teams from the same conference it would be Clemson and Florida State from the ACC.

In just one year, the ACC went from a league with zero playoff contenders to a league with two legitimate playoff contenders. Many national pundits have picked both Florida State and Clemson to make the playoff even though the thought of a one-loss ACC team making it in seemed laughable just one year ago.

Matt Brown outright predicted it; his four teams being LSU, Clemson, FSU, & Michigan with LSU & FSU advancing to the title game. David Pollack on College Football Live predicted FSU & Clemson to both get in with FSU’s only loss being to Clemson. Many are citing Clemson’ talent, FSU’s talent & strong non-conference schedule as reasons why this unlikely scenario is suddenly more likely. Whatever the case may be the reputation FSU, Clemson, and the ACC has come a long way since the days of the BCS.

Derwin James, not Dalvin Cook, was the only Seminole representative on ESPN’s Preseason All-American squad.

Coach Fisher, Coach Dawsey, and Coach Trickett reflected on ten years together as a staff.

Jimbo Fisher says “Toughness is at a Premium” after restarting Monday morning’s practice due to sluggishness and overall lack of energy. Does this happen with last year’s young, rebuilding team? Probably not but I happen to think that Jimbo knows what he has with this year’s team and wants them to realize to realize just how far they can dig for that extra gear when they need it.

Bill Connelly previewed every team on our schedule, well more specifically every team in the country.

Ole Miss suffered another loss along the defensive line with starting defensive tackle (former FSU commitment) DJ Jones suffering a concussion. With both Jones and starting defensive end Fadol Brown missing practice camp is taking its toll on Ole Miss’ defensive line depth.

Recruiting:

The Rivals100 for the class of 2017 was updated today with Stanford Samuels, Khalan Laborn, DJ Matthews, Jalen Parks, and Cyrus Fagan making the list, the first four all being ranked in the top 45 with Stanford being the highest at No. 39 overall.

Other Sports:

FSU’s top-ranked Women’s Soccer opened up the season with a strong 1-0 win on the road over #8 Texas A&M.

Alumni:

Former Seminole and Pro-bowl CB Antonio Cromatie signed with the colts; while the recently released Karlos Williams went unclaimed on waivers making him a free agent.

Former Groza award winner Roberto Aguayo, amidst struggles in the preseason, is seeking outside help to improve his performance. Even if Roberto was performing well you should never take a kicker in the 2nd round, not even an all-time great.