College Football Rankings: Way-too-early Top 25 projections for 2018

Florida State had a rough year in 2017. The Seminoles came into the new season as a top-five team and one of the preseason favorites in the ACC. Then, in the season opener, they lost big to Alabama. More unsettling, though, was the loss of starting quarterback Deondre Francois for the season before the first game came to a conclusion.

Then Hurricane Irma disrupted the season further. By the time the Seminoles returned to the field later in September, they found themselves immediately facing a deficit in the standings. Getting to .500 and bowl eligibility was a madcap scramble for Florida State. In the end, it took rescheduling a game against ULM for championship weekend to get a 12th game in on the regular-season schedule.

But the Seminoles got to .500, and then turned around and resoundingly took down Southern Miss in the Independence Bowl. What they gained in a bowl victory, though, they lost by seeing Jimbo Fisher bolt Tallahassee for Texas A&M. For Florida State, though, it might ultimately prove to be the perfect long-term move after they landed Oregon head coach and Sunshine State native Willie Taggart to take Fisher’s spot.

If Taggart can hit the ground running at Florida State, the team will be in good position to rebound from a year of attrition and hardship. With regression at other division rivals a real possibility, the Seminoles could possibly make another run at the ACC title in 2018 if Francois comes back at the level he was playing before his injury.