No. 8 Florida State and No. 5 LSU faced off in the first marquee matchup of the 2023 college football season on Sunday. And just like last year, Mike Norvell's squad made a statement.
As Jordan Travis made his case to be considered a Heisman Trophy favorite, the Seminoles laid a second-half beatdown on the SEC opposition, 45-24.
Florida State trailed by three at halftime then ripped off 24 unanswered points in the second half to roll to victory. The LSU fans who were losing their minds while leading by three couldn't fathom being down by three touchdowns.
How will that performance impact the college football rankings?
Projected college football rankings after Florida State beat LSU
- Georgia Bulldogs
- Michigan Wolverines
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Florida State Seminoles
- USC Trojans
- Penn State Nittany Lions
- LSU Tigers
- Clemson Tigers
- Washington Huskies
- Texas Longhorns
- Tennessee Voltuneers
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Utah Utes
- Oregon Ducks
- Kansas State Wildcats
- Oregon State Beavers
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Wisconsin Badgers
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Tulane Green Wave
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Colorado Buffaloes
Florida State opened the season ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25. It only seems fair to swap places with LSU after besting the No. 5 Tigers.
No one was going to break into the Top 4 unless Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State or Alabama tripped up and none of them did. But the Seminoles did enough to warrant a leap up near that tier.
USC already has two wins, but their defensive struggles in Week 0 should more than open the door for FSU to overtake them. Meanwhile, Penn State's victory over West Virginia wasn't nearly as impressive as the Seminoles' triumph over another Top 10 squad.
It's still very early and other teams will have plent to prove, but Florida State is the only team in college football who can claim a Top 10 victory on their résumé. They should be rewarded for that.
