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Florida State finds itself on the wrong side of history

Florida State's 2024 season has fallen off the rails early. After dropping the first two games, the Seminoles have fallen out of the top 25 rankings after only one week. It's an embarrassing start for a team expected to be a contender for a College Football Playoff start. However, now they're part of a small handful of teams discarded from the national rankings after one week. Take a look at all 12 previous instances since 1950.

By Justin Perez

Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell During Loss To Boston College
Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell During Loss To Boston College / James Gilbert/GettyImages
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. 6. 1958 North Carolina. Ranked #10. 1958. . . . 441.

Rameses
North Carolina Mascot Rameses / Andy Mead/ISI Photos/GettyImages

Things come around in full circles, don't they? After a couple of years, the next top 10 team to falter out of the national rankings was the 1958 North Carolina Tar Heels. Remember James Tatum from Maryland? Well, he was the coach of North Carolina during the 1958 season. Now before 1958, Tatum didn't have much success but was guiding the school in the right direction.

He improved from two to six wins the year before. As a result, UNC had some decent expectations for 1958 and was ranked tenth in the preseason rankings. To begin the season, the Tar Heels played rival North Carolina State in Chapel Hill on September 20th. They lost by a single touchdown in a 21-14 defeat.

Two days later the week one polls came out and UNC wasn't in there. They had dropped completely out and they wouldn't help their cause the next week. They dropped to 0-2 after a 26-21 road loss to Clemson. Fortunately, UNC would turn their year around and go on a six-game winning streak. Key wins in the stretch included road victories against USC, Tennessee, and Virginia.

During this win streak, North Carolina returned to the rankings, starting in early November. The highest they climbed was when they ranked eleventh before dropping the final two games to Notre Dame and Duke.

The Tar Heels ended the year with a 6-4 record and without a national ranking. Jim Tatum tragically passed away in July of the next year after dealing with an illness, linked to typhus fever. Below is footage of their loss to Clemson.

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