ACC Voters Reveal Where They Expect FSU Football To Finish

The expectations surrounding Florida State continue to sink entering the 2026 season.

After back-to-back disappointing years and a roller-coaster decade, the Seminoles were projected to finish at the lowest spot in program history in the ACC voters' preseason predictions, highlighting just how far national perception has fallen ahead of Mike Norvell's seventh year.

Florida State Faces Uphill Battle

The Florida State Seminoles football team practice for the upcoming season Thursday, April 9, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Preseason polls don't determine where teams finish in December. FSU will have an opportunity to begin changing the narrative when it opens the 2026 season, but the Seminoles will need to prove on the field that this year's roster is capable of outperforming expectations.

ACC voters have predicted the Seminoles to finish 11th in the ACC.

Florida State picked to finish 11th in the ACC this year with three first-place votes somehow #Noles pic.twitter.com/mS90RKCI5p
— Austin Veazey (@EasyVeazeyNG) July 28, 2026

It won't be easy either.

Florida State will face one of the toughest schedules in the ACC this year and will be breaking in nearly half of its roster through transfers and prep-school players.

ESPN's Football Power Index ranked Florida State's 2026 strength of schedule at No. 1 in the ACC and No. 22 nationally.

Even so, the Seminoles believe the influx of talent and another offseason under Norvell's staff provides a chance to change the course despite the national perception.

"Words Don't Matter. It's About The Action."

Nov 1, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell during the fourth quarter against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

FSU faces an uphill battle entering the season after being projected near the bottom of the ACC. However, Norvell made it clear at ACC Kickoff that the Seminoles aren't focused on preseason narratives.

"We understand the expectation," Norvell said. "There's no person or place that has higher expectations than we have being part of this program, making sure we're doing things the right way, the Florida State way, competing for championships, in all things that we do... Words don't matter. It's about the action."

Florida State finished with 1,439 points (3 first-place votes) in the preseason poll, placing 11th among the conference's 17 teams. The Seminoles trailed Duke by 13 points while finishing ahead of Cal, Wake Forest, Syracuse, North Carolina, Boston College, and Stanford.

Four of the top 10 teams that FSU will face this year finished at the top, with Miami taking the No. 1 spot, followed by SMU (No. 2), Louisville (No. 3), and Clemson (No. 4).

No matter where Florida State landed in the voting, the poll serves as another reminder of how steep the hill is to climb after back-to-back losing years.

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