TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State is a consensus top-10 team in both major college football polls.
The Seminoles are ranked No. 8 in The Associated Press preseason top 25 poll released Monday. They hold the same spot in the preseason coaches poll unveiled last week.
This is Florida State's first appearance in the AP preseason poll since 2018 when its 41-year streak of consecutive winning seasons came to an end.
The top nine teams in the AP preseason poll are the same in almost identical order.
Two-time defending national champion Georgia is the top-ranked team in the country, followed by second-ranked Michigan.
Alabama and Ohio State are flip-flopped in the AP poll, with the Buckeyes ranked third and Crimson Tide ranked fourth. Alabama was No. 3 and Ohio State was No. 4 in the coaches poll.
Just like the coaches poll, LSU is No. 5, Southern California is No. 6 and Penn State is No. 7.
Clemson is one spot behind the Seminoles at No. 9.
If the rankings hold, the Seminoles will face two top-10 teams in the month of September.
The No. 9 Tigers host Florida State on Sept. 23. Clemson defeated the Seminoles 34-28 last season.
LSU opens the season against Florida State on Sept. 3 in Orlando. The Seminoles won last September's meeting in New Orleans 24-23 on a blocked PAT after the Tigers scored a touchdown as time expired.
Led by quarterback Jordan Travis, the Seminoles return most of their playmakers from a team that finished on a six-game winning streak to end last season with 10 wins for the first time since 2016.
Travis, who hails from West Palm Beach and was a star player at the Benjamin School, enters the season as a Heisman Trophy candidate after throwing for 4,959 yards and 46 touchdowns and rushing for 1,784 yards and 24 scores in his college career.
His top two targets – returning starter Johnny Wilson and Michigan State transfer Keon Coleman – enter the season on the Biletnikoff Award watch list.
On the opposite side of the ball, defensive end Jared Verse is projected to be a first-round draft pick after recording 17 tackles for loss and nine sacks a season ago.
No other team in Florida was ranked in the preseason top 25, but the Gators did receive four votes. Florida will host the Seminoles this season on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
