Noles News: FSU falls in polls, still has third-best odds to win championship

Recruiting

Florida State Seminoles football 2024 commitments

QUARTERBACK: 4 star Luke Kromenhoek (GA)

RUNNING BACK: 4 star Kam Davis (GA)

RUNNING BACK: 4 star Micahi Danzy (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Camdon Frier (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Lawayne McCoy (FL)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star BJ Gibson (GA)

WIDE RECEIVER: 4 star Elijah Moore (MD)

TIGHT END: 5 star Landen Thomas (GA)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: 4 star Jonathan Daniels (FL)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Tye Hylton (FL)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: 4 star Manasse Itete (CA)

OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Jayden Todd (GA)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 4 star DD Holmes (DC)

DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: 3 star Jamorie Flagg (FL)

LINEBACKER: 3 star Jayden Parrish (FL)

LINEBACKER: 3 star Timir Hickman-Collins (SC)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 5 star KJ Bolden (GA)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 5 star Charles Lester III (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 4 star Ricky Knight III (FL)

DEFENSIVE BACK: 3 star CJ Heard (GA)

KICKER: 3 star Jake Weinberg (FL)

Football

After a narrow win over the Clemson Tigers on the road, Florida State (4-0, 2-0 ACC) fell one spot in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll — to No. 5 and No. 4, respectively.

The Seminoles still have the third-best odds to take home the national championship, sitting at +800 alongside Texas and behind Michigan (+400) and Georgia (+250). FSU also is the odds-on favorite to win the ACC Championship (-160), followed by Miami (+750), North Carolina and Duke (both +850).

Jordan Travis has the fourth-best odds to take home the Heisman (+1200), behind Bo Nix (+1000), Quinn Ewers (+600), and Michael Penix Jr. and Caleb Williams (both +400).

Soccer

No. 3 Florida State soccer kept its unbeaten streak alive, using a literal last-second goal to earn a 3-3 tie against the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels on the road.

From our Prince Akeem Joeffer:

This is what can happen when two super heavyweights go at it. This was a game of the year candidate.

Both of these teams have loaded rosters. Carolina did a great job today applying pressure. FSU mostly absorbed it while finding opportunities to counter. This was a mostly even game (as evidenced by the shot totals) and there weren’t a ton of mistakes. While there were a few, mostly the two teams earned what they got in this game.

Much is made of UNC’s huge roster compared to FSU’s smaller one. The Heels have 33 listed players while Florida State has only 22. That depth showed up slightly in this game but it wasn’t a huge factor. UNC used six players off the bench for a total of 150 minutes. FSU used five subs for a total of 89 minutes.

These two teams are the class of the ACC and maybe the nation. Both sides were missing a couple of players due to international duty. It will be great to run this back again with both teams at full strength.

All Sports

Florida State volleyball swept the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Sunday:

The Seminoles (8-6, 2-0) earned their seventh sweep of the season as they hit .371 in the match, sparked by emphatic second and third sets where they pulled away early from the Demon Deacons (10-3, 1-1). Junior middle blocker Kiari Robey closed out her outstanding weekend with 10 kills in 14 swings for a .571 hitting percentage and six blocks.

FSU played one of its best sets of the season in set two, hitting .406 and winning convincingly at 25-18. A kill by Louis midway through the set gave FSU a commanding 16-7 lead, and it used another 5-0 run to go up 21-9 in a stretch that was punctuated by a block from Koenig and Robey. The set ended on a kill from Louis to put FSU up 2-0 in the match.

FSU would finish the sweep with a dominant third set.

Florida State returns home to Tully Gym for a two-match swing beginning this Friday vs. North Carolina at 6:30 p.m. The Seminoles then wrap up the home weekend hosting Duke at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

After the first two rounds of the Schooner Fall Classic at the Belmar Golf Course, No. 10 Florida State women’s golf is tied for third and Lottie Woad sits tied for fourth:

Woad and Charlotte Heath – who both earned First-Team All-American honors in 2023 — carded identical scores of 66 to propel the Seminoles into the top three of the team standings heading into Monday’s final round of the tournament.

Each of Florida State’s four counting scores came in under par with Woad (66) and Heath (66) leading the way. Senior Alice Hodge and junior Kaylah Williams totaled a 1-under par scores of 69 as the Seminoles improved their team score by 10 strokes, and their position in the team standings by eight places. Florida State began the day tied for 11th in the team standings.

Woad and Heath both came within one stroke of tying the school record for a single round score as well as their single round career-best scores.