No. 10 Florida State was looking to bounce back after a heartbreaking last-second loss to Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland, the previous week. The 24-21 defeat posed an early challenge in the Seminoles’ mission to redeem themselves after being left out of the 2023 College Football Playoff.
On Monday night, Boston College, a team that only managed three ACC wins last year, delivered a significant blow to Florida State’s playoff hopes. ESPN now gives the Seminoles just a one percent chance of making the 2024 expanded playoff.
Boston College dominated the game, leading by multiple scores for most of the night and ultimately securing a 28-13 victory in Tallahassee.
According to ESPN, Florida State became the fourth preseason top-10 team to start 0-2 in the last decade. This marks only the third time in history that a team ranked in the top-10 has begun a season with a 0-2 record (following 1967 Texas and 2022 Notre Dame).
If the Seminoles falter again in their remaining schedule—which seems likely with tough games against Clemson, Miami, and Notre Dame still ahead—they could become the 19th team in the last 21 years to start in the preseason top-10 and finish outside the top-25.
In fact, Florida State may be entirely omitted from the Associated Press’ first in-season poll, which is expected to be released on Tuesday.
With an early bye week, the Seminoles will next have a chance to get their first win of the season on September 14 against Memphis.
