2025 Florida State Football Predictions: Seminoles Ranked 34th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136

By RJ Young
Published

This isn't your average college football ranking.

My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it's my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list:

  • Who do I think is good?
  • Why do I think they're good?
  • What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations?

Here is a look at where Florida State lands in my Ultimate 136.

Team ranking: 34
Last year's ranking: 5
Top player: QB Thomas Castellanos: 20 starts at Boston College, totaling 3,614 pass yards, 33 TD passes, 1,307 rushing yards, 15 rush TDs; first player in BC history with 2,000 pass yards and 1,000 rush yards in a single season.

[Florida State's 2025 schedule]

RJ's take: You can't fall much farther than FSU did. After a 13-1 season and an ACC title in 2023, they began 2024 ranked as a top 10 team here (and everywhere else) only to finish an utterly disastrous 2-10. Mike Norvell fired both his offensive and defensive coordinators and brought in his mentor and former boss Gus Malzahn as the new OC. Perhaps what worked for Ohio State last year, when Ryan Day hired his mentor Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator, will work for Norvell too. But that's just the start.

Castellano, the penned starter for 2025, has already poked the elephant he's gonna be stuck in a room with on August 30. He wants Bama.

"They don’t have Nick Saban to save them," he told On3. "I just don’t see them stopping me."

Forget bulletin board material. I wouldn't be surprised to see that quote on billboards all across the state of Alabama.

Norvell brought in SEC transfers Gavin Sawchuk (RB from Oklahoma) and Squirrel White (WR from Tennessee) to help Castellano keep his word.

Florida State Win Total Odds: Over 7.5 (+160) Under (-200)

Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school's rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young, and I'll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young.

[Check out RJ Young's Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here]