Tag: Florida State Seminoles

LSU vs. Florida State could be a big test of handling expectations

LSU and Florida State both enter this year’s game with hopes of making the College Football Playoff.

When LSU and Florida State faced off last season in New Orleans, both teams were shrouded with questions coming into the game. It was unknown how LSU would look in their first game under [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag]. It was also unknown if Mike Norvell was going to be the guy for Florida State going forward.

This year, it’s a different story.

Instead of questions, both teams enter with expectations. LSU and Florida State both enter this year’s game with hopes of making the college football playoffs. LSU won the SEC West last year as they won 10 games. Florida State won 10 games and ended the year with a win over Oklahoma in a bowl game. This meeting will be about handling expectations, On3’s JD PicKell said.

“The buzz around this Florida State team has switched a lot, obviously, from this year to last year. How they handle that and how you handle being talked about is going to really impact this first game,” PicKell said.

We will see how both teams handle expectations when the game kicks off this Sunday.

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How have LSU and FSU changed since last meeting?

Here’s how LSU and Florida State have changed since they last met.

LSU and Florida State entered the game in 2022 in a similar spot.

Both were trying to climb back to the top of the sport and re-enter the national spotlight. Both coaches were counting on transfers to be real difference makers and young players to make a jump.

The Tigers and the Noles went on to surprise. Both won 10 games. For Florida State, it was its first 10-win season since 2016. For LSU, it was the first double-digit campaign since the title run in 2019.

Now, this game features two AP top 10 teams and again, they enter the match in a similar position. Here’s what’s changed with both squads since last year and how they mirror each other again.

LSU reportedly tried to schedule a Week 0 game to avoid Maason Smith’s suspension vs. Florida State

LSU looked into several options to avoid Maason Smith serving his suspension against the Seminoles.

LSU will be without one of its top defensive players in the season opener against Florida State in [autotag]Maason Smith[/autotag], who is making his return from injury but will serve a suspension for receiving improper benefits relating to an autograph signing in July 2021.

It’s not ideal for the Tigers, and according to a report from Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger, it’s an outcome the team tried ardently to avoid.

Coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] told Dellenger that LSU looked into scheduling an opponent for Week 0 so Smith could serve his suspension for that game rather than the top-10 contest against the Seminoles.

“We looked at all the options out there, certainly, and wanted to make sure that we examined everything that was possible,” Kelly said. “We looked at everything. We looked at a Week 0 game to bring in another opponent prior to Florida State. We looked at every imaginable option, but time ran out.

“We have enough people that looked at it from an NCAA and legal perspective, and there’s nothing in the bylaws about a grandfather rule. Once it came down, we were looking if we could pick the game [in which to use the suspension]. Is there an option to do that? A lot of those appeals were exhausted, and we were left with the eventual one-game suspension.”

Smith’s misconduct came just weeks before the advent of name, image and likeness rights, but it seems he was not able to be grandfathered in, as Kelly implies the school hoped he would.

A former five-star, Smith showed impressive flashes as a true freshman in 2021 and entered last fall with high expectations. Unfortunately, his season ended almost as soon as it started as he suffered a torn ACL against Florida State on the first drive of the season while celebating.

Without Smith, the Tigers will likely rely on a veteran in [autotag]Jacobian Guillory[/autotag], as well as West Virginia transfer [autotag]Jordan Jefferson[/autotag].

“The appeals didn’t turn out in our favor, and we are going to abide by the ruling,” Kelly said. “We accept the ruling. We’re going to move on and get ready for Florida State.

“Maason is a guy who impacts the game. You’ve got to have other guys step up. We feel like Guillory is a guy ready to step up for us. Jefferson is going to be counted on to play a bigger role for us.”

Smith will make his long-awaited return to the field in Week 2 when LSU opens up its home slate against Grambling.

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LSU defensive tackle Maason Smith suspended for season opener against Florida State

Maason Smith will be suspended by the NCAA for reportedly receiving an improper benefit at an autograph signing before NIL in July 2021.

LSU defensive tackle [autotag]Maason Smith[/autotag] will have to wait a week longer than anticipated to make his return to the field.

According to a report from The Advocate’s Wilson Alexander, Smith will be suspended for the season opener against Florida State. The suspension comes from the NCAA and stems from Smith receiving an improper benefit at an autograph signing in July 2021 before the name, image and likeness era began, per Alexander.

Smith would have served that suspension at some point last fall, but he suffered a season-ending ACL tear on the first drive of what was expected to be a breakout campaign.

He’s battled some injuries in camp this offseason but is expected to make a major impact on the field. Without him against a tough Florida State rushing attack, the Tigers will rely heavily on redshirt junior [autotag]Jacobian Guillory[/autotag] and West Virginia transfer Jordan Jefferson to play alongside Mekhi Wingo on the inside.

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ESPN bowl projections sending Penn State back to a New Years Six bowl

ESPN’s bowl experts project Penn State to two different New Years Six bowl destinations.

The season has yet to kick off, but ESPN’s bowl projections will only add fuel to the fire burning for Penn State football this season. ESPN’s preseason bowl projections for the 2023 college football season have officially been updated, and there are a couple of New Years Six bowl projections in line for the Nittany Lions this fall.

ESPN’s bowl projections from Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach agree on one thing; Penn State should be making plans for a New Years Six bowl at the end of the season. They also agree that one of those bowl destinations will not be in the College Football Playoff. Where the bowl projections from ESPN’s bowl gurus differ is the final destination for the upcoming season.

Bonagura has Penn State lining up for a rematch of last season’s Rose Bowl with a matchup with Utah in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. Penn State topped Utah in the Rose Bowl last season. The Rose Bowl would not be the setting for this matchup because the Rose Bowl is hosting one of the College Football Playoff semifinal games. Bonagura has Michigan squaring off with Alabama in Pasadena for one of his semifinal matchups.

Schlabach is sending Penn State to the Orange Bowl for a matchup against Florida State. According to Schlabach’s projections, Florida State would reach the Orange Bowl as the ACC champion, while Penn State would be the highest-ranked team available from the SEC or Big Ten (or Notre Dame) when it came to filling the spot in the Orange Bowl after the playoff field was set.

Schlabach has Michigan facing USC in the Rose Bowl and Georgia meeting Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl for the playoff field. So in this case, Penn State would benefit from the inclusion of two Big Ten teams in the playoff for a second straight season when it comes to its bowl options.

You can view all of ESPN’s bowl projections (with a paid subscription) to see how the rest of the bowl lineup looks.

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Countdown to Kickoff: 10 breakout players to watch for this season

College Sports Wire takes a look at 10 players across the college football landscape who could break out this fall.

The start of the college football season begins in just 10 days.

Every year, a new crop of stars enters the fold in college football. Some players go from virtually unknown to the top of the college football world in the span of 13 weeks. Others may have been former top prospects coming out of high school and finally are getting their chance to shine on the national stage.

Last season, the nation watched as players such as Donovan Edwards of Michigan, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. of Clemson, and Drake Maye of North Carolina all broke out and became some of the best players in all of college football.

As the countdown to the college football season beginning continues to dwindle, College Sports Wire takes a look at 10 players across the college football landscape who could break out this fall.

Penn State ranked in top 10 in preseason FWAA Super 16 Poll

Penn State lands another top 10 preseason ranking in football writers’ Super 16 poll.

Following the releases of the preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25, Penn State has secured one more top-10 preseason ranking. The Football Writers Association of America and National Football Foundation released its preseason Super 16 Poll for the 2023 season, and Penn State was ranked at no. 7 to start the season.

Penn State’s preseason ranking in the Super 16 Poll matches the preseason rankings in the coaches and AP polls, giving Penn State a consensus no. 7 ranking to start the season. As has been the case, Georgia topped the Super 16 poll and both Michigan and Ohio State ranked higher than the Nittany Lions among Big Ten teams.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a voter in this poll and will be throughout the 2023 season. I have noted how I voted for each spot in the poll.

August 15th could potentially be a big day for ACC programs

It could be an important day for the Atlantic Coast Conference on August 15th.

With all of the talk in college athletics being centered around realignment, August 15th has the potential to be an important one in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But it also could just be another day.

The month of August has been an eventful one for realignment, and Florida State has expressed its desire to leave the conference. They are the only program to be vocal about that despite a report a few months back that seven schools were exploring that option.

But if Florida State or any school would leave the ACC, they would have to notify the conference by August 15 as Nicole Auerbach points out:

Any ACC school would need to give notice to the conference that it was departing by Aug. 15 in order to compete elsewhere the following academic year. So, if FSU were to tell the ACC it was leaving by Tuesday, it would be able to compete in another league, or as an independent, for the 2024-25 season.

But the formal decision to leave the ACC is just the first step. There’s a $120 million exit fee involved, plus whatever legal battle would follow between the league and the school trying to get out of a grant of rights that stretches until 2036. That grant of rights means the ACC owns the broadcast rights of every home game of each member school for the next 13 seasons.

There’s a lot that needs to happen for Florida State or any school to leave the conference and it would take a lot of work, too. August 15th is the deadline but barring any surprises, it looks like it will be a normal day and conference realignment rumors will continue on.

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Steve Spurrier likes the idea of FSU coming to the SEC

Everyone is talking conference realignment, including the head ball coach. On Friday, Steve Spurrier suggested a few ACC teams that would be a good fit for the SEC.

With conference realignment running wild in college football, Florida State is one team fans and experts believe could be on the move sooner rather than later. Even legendary Florida (and South Carolina) head coach Steve Spurrier weighed in on the idea of the Seminoles joining the SEC.

“Yeah, if they come into the SEC, heck, that would be good, I think,” Spurrier said on Mike Bianchi’s Open Mike radio show (Orlando FM 96.9) Friday morning. “Maybe bring Miami or Clemson, I guess would be the other ones that would be a possibility.”

Talk about a super conference.

The SEC is already the toughest conference in the land, and Oklahoma and Texas are set to join in 2024. Adding three more teams would make it a 19-program conference, which is basically a small league.

Spurrier might be on to something, though. The SEC and Big Ten are further emerging as giants in the college football landscape. The Big 12 is trying to keep pace, but many ACC powers like FSU are ready to jump ship.

The Head Ball Coach also pointed out that the 12-team playoff should help balance things out. A tough loss in the middle of a difficult schedule doesn’t doom a team like it did in the four-team format.

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CBS Sports predicts bowl game rematch for LSU in 2023

Could the Tigers bookend their season with matchups against Florida State?

It’s rare you see a rematch of a regular season contest in the postseason, but that’s exactly what CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm predicts in his latest college football bowl projections ahead of the 2023 season.

LSU opens its season in the Sunshine State with a game against Florida State in Orlando, and Palm predicts a return trip to Florida to take on the Seminoles in the Orange Bowl at the end of the year.

While fans likely wouldn’t be thrilled about a rematch against FSU, a trip to the New Year’s Six in coach Brian Kelly’s second season would certainly be a success after the team missed out on it last year.

LSU opens its 2023 season against Florida State at Camping World Stadium in Orlando on Sunday, Sept. 3.

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