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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/jimbobbypaul on 2023-08-22 20:00:33.
Main hub thread with the full 131 rankings
Florida State, welcome to the top 3. You are the true kings of Florida. There have been many great dynasties in college football, but none quite like Bobby Bowden’s run at Florida State. The Seminoles finished in the AP Top 4 for 13 straight seasons from 1987-99. To put that in perspective, if you account for Top 5 finishes instead of Top 4, Florida State has 14 from 1987-2000, while the second longest in history, USC (2002-08), has just 7. Even the Alabama dynasty under Nick Saban’s longest streak is 5 (2014-18). If there was a 4 team Playoff in the 90s, FSU probably wins more than the 2 national titles they won in that span. Florida State also holds the longest consecutive bowl appearance streak in NCAA history at 36 games, spanning from 1982-2017.
Best Seasons and Highlights
1. 2013: 1. Florida State: 14-0 (62.550) 2. 1993: 1. Florida State: 12-1 (57.313) 3. 1999: 1. Florida State: 12-0 (55.909) 4. 1996: 2. Florida State: 11-1 (48.861) 5. 1997: 3. Florida State: 11-1 (48.626) 6. 2000: 3. Florida State: 11-2 (48.291) 7. 1992: 2. Florida State: 11-1 (47.665) 8. 1987: 2. Florida State: 11-1 (47.534) 9. 1998: 3. Florida State: 11-2 (47.200) 10. 1994: 3. Florida State: 10-1-1 (47.094) 11. 2014: 4. Florida State: 13-1 (44.155) 12. 1988: 3. Florida State: 11-1 (43.554) 13. 1989: 4. Florida State: 10-2 (42.174) 14. 1991: 4. Florida State: 11-2 (40.558) 15. 1995: 5. Florida State: 10-2 (38.124) 16. 2012: 11. Florida State: 12-2 (36.314) 17. 1990: 7. Florida State: 10-2 (33.670) 18. 2016: 9. Florida State: 10-3 (33.022) 19. 2003: 12. Florida State: 10-3 (31.984) 20. 2022: 14. Florida State: 10-3 (25.964) 21. 2015: 17. Florida State: 10-3 (25.943) 22. 2010: 17. Florida State: 10-4 (23.468) 23. 2004: 16. Florida State: 9-3 (22.435) 24. 2002: 17. Florida State: 9-5 (21.900) 25. 2001: 15. Florida State: 8-4 (20.464) 26. 2008: 22. Florida State: 9-4 (19.730) 27. 1985: 23. Florida State: 9-3 (19.576) 28. 1984: 19. Florida State: 7-3-2 (17.212) 29. 2011: 25. Florida State: 9-4 (17.176) 30. 1986: 26. Florida State: 7-4-1 (10.810) 31. 2005: 24. Florida State: 8-5 (10.210) 32. 1983: 36. Florida State: 7-5 (7.027) 33. 2009: 39. Florida State: 7-6 (5.946) 34. 2006: 41. Florida State: 7-6 (4.135) 35. 2017: 46. Florida State: 7-6 (1.888) 36. 2007: 50. Florida State: 7-6 (0.914) 37. 2019: 60. Florida State: 6-7 (-8.902) 38. 2021: 72. Florida State: 5-7 (-10.737) 39. 2018: 84. Florida State: 5-7 (-15.192) 40. 2020: 97. Florida State: 3-6 (-24.700) Overall Score: 47571 (3rd)
- 370-129-4 record
- 3 national titles
- 15 conference titles
- 26-10-1 bowl record
- 41 consensus All-Americans
- 204 NFL players drafted
Florida State has 10 of my top 100 seasons since 1983, accounting for 10% of the top 100 while the average team statistically accounts for just 0.8%. Florida State is my #1 program of the 90s, just beating out Nebraska at #2 and Florida at #3. If you’ve been impressed with the recent Dabo Swinney dynasty at Clemson, which has won 7 of the last 8 ACC titles, consider that Florida State won 9 straight ACC titles from 1992-2000, and 11 of 12 from 1992-2003. Not to mention, Florida State won 11 straight bowl games from 1985-95, and were unbeaten for 14 straight bowls (13-0-1) from 1982-95. The numbers from the mid 80s to 2000 are staggering.
Consensus All-Americans we won’t mention below are RB Greg Allen (1983) who finished 7th in Heisman voting, OL Jamie Dukes (1985) who was an analyst on NFL Network for many years, CB Deion Sanders (1987, 1988) who, simply put, is one of the most famous players to ever play the game, DB LeRoy Butler (1989) who’s in the NFL Hall of Fame, DB Terrell Buckley (1991) who won the Thorpe Award, LB Marvin Jones (1991, 1992), DB Clifton Abraham (1994), OL Clay Shiver (1995), DE Jamal Reynolds (2000) who won the Lombardi Award, WR Snoop Minnis (2000) who was Heisman winner Chris Weinke’s favorite target, DB Tay Cody (2000), OT Alex Barron (2003, 2004), OG Rodney Hudson (2010), P Shawn Powell (2011) who led the NCAA with 47.0 yards per punt, DE Bjoern Werner (2012) who won ACC Defensive POTY, TE Nick O’Leary (2014) who won the Mackey Award, OL Tre’ Jackson (2014), K Roberto Aguayo (2014), DB Jalen Ramsey (2015), DE Demarcus Walker (2016) who won ACC Defensive POTY with 16 sacks, and RB Dalvin Cook (2016) who had 2253 yards and 20 TD from scrimmage.
Top NFL players include CB Deion Sanders, LB Derrick Brooks, OT Walter Jones, DB LeRoy Butler, RB Warrick Dunn, WR Anquan Boldin, CB Jalen Ramsey, RB Dalvin Cook, S Derwin James, DB Antonio Cromartie, DB Samari Rolle, C Rodney Hudson, LB Peter Boulware, QB Brad Johnson, OT Tra Thomas, LB Lawrence Timmons, DT Darnell Lockett, WR Laveranues Coles, QB Jameis Winston, RB Devonta Freeman, CB Xavier Rhodes, DT Corey Simon, DE Brian Burns, K Sebastian Janikowski, LB Telvin Smith, OT Kyle Long, RS Leon Washington, DE Josh Sweat, and CB Asante Samuel Jr…
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2020 (3-6 overall, 2-6 ACC)
Poetic that Florida State’s 4 worst seasons were all under Willie Taggart and Mike Norvell. Norvell gets the distinction of the worst team in his first year (2020), but I don’t think this season was as bad of an experience as 2018 (going down 3-59 to Clemson) and 2021 (losing to Jacksonville State). Especially because it was the weird Covid season. The Norvell era started with a 10-0 lead over Georgia Tech, but a 13-16 final. Norvell missed the next game after testing positive for Covid (10-52 loss to Miami (FL)), but returned for his first win in Tallahassee, 41-24 over Jacksonville State, a game that should always be a win by Florida State standards. The Jordan Travis era began after the win, going 2-4 the rest of the way with a 31-28 upset win over #5 North Carolina and 56-35 win over Duke. Most losses were bad, with the last 3 being 16-48 to Louisville, 17-41 to Pittsburgh, and 22-38 to NC State, but the season was a bit of a wash due to cleaning up Taggart’s mess and Covid weirdness. CB Asante Samuel Jr. was the team’s only 1st Team All-ACC selection, intercepting 3 passes in 8 games. Projected 1st round DT Marvin Wilson had a disappointing year, still managing to earn 2nd Team All-ACC but went undrafted in the 2021 NFL Draft. WR Tamorrion Terry was supposed to be one of the best receivers in the country after a 1200 yard season in 2019, but was kicked off the team after 7 games, and has not had the best track record since then.
5. 1997 (11-1 overall, 8-0 ACC)
I’m gonna be honest, coming into this I have NO idea what the difference between all the 90’s Florida State teams are, so let’s find out together. Heading into 1997, Florida State was ranked in the preseason AP Top 5 for the 8th straight year, having finished in the AP top 4 for 10 straight seasons. “Thad Busby” was the QB, with one of the best offensive lines in the country and a defense that featured 3 All-Americans. FSU’s defense showed out early, holding opponents to 7 points or less in 4 of their first 6 games. The 6-0 start featured 3 ranked wins of 14-7 over #23 USC, 35-28 over #16 Clemson, and 38-0 over #21 Georgia Tech. Competition was fierce in 1997, as Florida State, Nebraska, Michigan, Penn State, and North Carolina were all unbeaten going into November. Michigan knocked off Penn State, and Florida State knocked off #5 North Carolina 20-3, moving FSU into the #2 slot in the AP Poll. All that was left were Nebraska and Michigan, who would both end up unbeaten. #2 Florida State matched up with #10 Florida at the height of their powers, both coming off a national title game against each other in 1996, with Florida having won 52-20. Florida AGAIN got the last laugh, ending #2 FSU’s title hopes with a 32-29 Gator win. Florida State got a nice Sugar Bowl victory over #9 Ohio State 31-14 to keep their AP Top 4 streak alive, finishing the year at #3. But again, it was no national title for a team that had won only 1 in 11 straight years of 10+ wins.
Offensive coordinator Mark Richt coached QB Thad Busby to an ACC Offensive POTY season, throwing for 3317 yards with 25 TD 10 INT. WR EG Green was 2nd Team All-American with 1000 yards and 11 TD, while WR Peter Warrick provided electric play with 884 yards and 8 TD. The offensive line featured 2 All-Americans in OT Tra Thomas and C Kevin Long, while the defense had consensus All-Americans DE Andre Wadsworth, LB Sam Cowart, and 3rd Team All-American LB Daryl Bush.
1997 Florida State is my 66th best team since 1983.
4. 1996 (11-1 overall, 8-0 ACC)
Man, Florida fans are having a field day with these first 2 seasons. 1996 was another FANTASTIC year for Florida State that ended in disappointment at the hands of the Gators. The Noles’ attack featured more of a ground game with Heisman finalist RB Warrick Dunn, and a younger Thad Busby in his first year as the starting QB. The team was excellent early on, beating Duke, NC State, #11 North Carolina, and Clemson by an average of 36-7 to start 4-0. Florida State won for the 2nd year in a row against #6 Miami (FL), the first time they won 2 in a row against Miami since 1978-79, building momentum for what would be a 5 year win streak against the Canes from 1995-99. After beating #14 Virginia, an outstanding string of games saw them finish the regular season unbeaten, blowing out #25 Southern Mi…
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