College football is officially back and it’s a whole new landscape in the state of Florida.
UCF joined the Power 5 ranks. FSU came in with an immense amount of hype. Florida and Miami are both in crucial year two’s with their respective coaches trying to build those programs back up. FAU and USF have new coaches in an effort to try to get their programs back on track. And FIU looks to improve this season.
There are so many questions that will be answered over the next couple of months in the state of Florida. Nonetheless, football is finally back, baby.
Here are our preseason power rankings for the seven college football teams in the state of Florida.
- Florida State Seminoles (2022: 10-3)
FSU comes into the season as everyone’s dark-horse favorites to make the college football playoff and they do check all of the boxes. They have a top-five QB in Jordan Travis, who is a Heisman favorite, a top-five defensive player in Jared Verse and what I think is a top-three wide receiver room in Keon Coleman and Johnny Wilson. They just have too many dudes. I didn’t even mention Trey Benson, who was an absolute beast last year.
The schedule early on is brutal as they play both LSU and Clemson. If FSU can come away with a 4-0 record in their first four weeks, buckle up because it’s going to be a special season.
When it comes to the state of Florida, the Noles are a big step up from the rest of the competition. FSU has officially taken the throne as the top Florida football school and I don’t think they’ll give up that title any time soon. They’ll be ranked number one all season as I have them winning 10+ games.
- Miami Hurricanes (2022: 5-7)
Year one for Mario Cristobal was an absolute nightmare. The blame seemed to have fallen on both coordinators. The nightmare OC Josh Gattis is gone and they bring Shannon Dawson who comes in to install the air raid to give life to this offense and hopefully get Tyler Van Dyke, who looked like a first-round pick two years ago, going again.
I think I’m considerably high on this team because they are loaded on defense. I think the country will be surprised by how good this defense is, especially with safeties Kam Kitchens and James Williams. Good luck dealing with that pair every Saturday. I want to just go back to Van Dyke because people were calling for Jake Garcia, who now transferred to Missouri. It’s Van Dyke’s show, not looking over his shoulder wondering if they’re going to bring in someone else.
People also seem to forget that Van Dyke was an absolute monster during his redshirt freshman season. In just 1- games he had 2900 yards and 25 touchdown passes. Miami in general is too talented to be bad again and Cristobal is too damn good of a coach to let that happen again. If you truly want to know how good the Canes are, we will find out really quick in week two against the Texas A&M Aggies.
I think this could be an eight-win team and what’s scary is that this team is incredibly young. Two or three years from now we could see Miami as a top-five program once again. They bring in a top-five freshman class and a top-five transfer class.
- UCF Knights (2022: 9-5)
First and foremost, congratulations to UCF for joining a power five conference in the Big 12. Simply put, the school has earned it over the last decade.
Here’s the truth, though. The media and the fans in Orlando think a little too highly of their team. Watching Big 12 media days, everyone in Orlando is thinking of a possible top five or an even higher finish for UCF year one. Many things factor into why I have them below Miami and as a resident Big 12 fan (I am a Texas Tech Alumni), I particularly know this conference. It’s going to be a brutal schedule.
The main reason why I’m not incredibly high on UCF is that their schedule might be the hardest in the country. In week two, the Knights go up to Boise State and if you’re a football fan you know how tough of a place that is to play in. In week four, the Knights go to the reigning Big 12 champs at Kansas State and have to play a brutally tough game. UCF also has to go to Oklahoma and the desert to play everyone’s favorite dark horse to win the Big 12: the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The only other weak spot I have for UCF is the John Rhys Plumlee conundrum. In the Big 12 you need to have a quarterback that can sling it. There are too many talented quarterbacks in college football so you are going to be in a shootout week in and week out. I don’t know if Plumlee has the arm talent to keep UCF in games that way. I think the kid is an amazing talent with his legs; he may be one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the country. If Plumlee can work on some little things, UCF will be a force. They already have the weapons in Javon Baker and the makings of a superstar running back RJ Harvey ,who averaged 6.7 yards per rushing attempt last year. This team can make some noise, but can their QB take the next step?
- Florida Gators (2022: 6-7)
Another coach in a big year two with the Gators is Billy Napier. It’s a tough climb for Napier but if the fans are patient, I think you’ll see that he’s the right man to steer Florida back in the national spotlight.
Similarly to UCF, the team is really talented but the schedule is absurd. Florida has to play five teams ranked in the top fifteen. However, the Gators will be much improved compared to last year even if it doesn’t show in the win column.
A lot has changed. Florida brings in Graham Mertz, a veteran QB that never really got going in Wisconsin. With Anthony Richardson now in the NFL after getting drafted by the Colts, it will be Mertz leading the Gators at the helm. Florida returns running back Trevor Etienne, who is expected to have a terrific year.
- FAU Owls (2022: 5-7)
I was all in on FAU last year and they were a fun team to watch on offense but they couldn’t stop a nosebleed on defense.
Enter former Texas coach Tom Herman to rebuild this program that hasn’t had much success since Lane Kiffin was there. Luckily, Herman gets a loaded roster on offense, plus the acqusition of transfer quarterback Casey Thompson.
FAU returns 1,000-yard rusher Larry McCammon and another 500+ yard rusher in Zuberi Mobley. They also bring back their dynamic wide receivers: Lajohntay Wester (700+ yards and eight touchdowns) and Je’quan Burton (500+ yards and four touchdowns).
I expect everyone’s numbers to skyrocket with Herman at the helm and highly touted QB Casey Thompson transferring. Don’t be surprised if FAU’s offense is the second-best in the state of Florida, only behind FSU.
If the defense can be top 50 or just average, this team can be special. I’m once again throwing all of my chips in and going all in on the Owls. I have FAU going 8-4.
- USF Bulls (2022: 1-11)
Jeff Scott went 4-26 as a USF head coach. It doesn’t get much worse than that. Even after the hire of Alex Golesh from Tennessee, the Bulls will not be very good.
Gerry Bohanon is still recovering from his shoulder injury, making the Bulls a three-win team at best.
Sadly, it’s tough to find anything positive to say. This program was ranked in the top 25 in 2018 and should be fighting its way into a power conference like UCF. Instead, they have fallen into the depth of FIU. It is a deep hole; who knows when they’ll be able to climb out of it.
- FIU Panthers (2022 4-8)
Year one under Mike MacIntyre should be viewed as a success. However, it may not translate to anything. I don’t think there’s a team in America that is getting poached more for its players than FIU.
- Demetrius Hill CB (95 tackles and 1 int) to Illinois
- 95 tackles for CB is absurd and is a huge loss.
- Tyrese Chambers (1500+ yards and 13 TD’s in two seasons) to Maryland
- FIU great Tyrese Chambers broke records Panther nation will miss him
- Rivaldo Fairweather ( 426 yards 3 TDs) to Auburn
- Losing an SEC-caliber player is always going to hurt.
- Lyndell Hudson (Best OT on the team) to Florida
- An SEC caliber guy
Losing the backbone of your team is only going to hurt the Panthers. There is hope that quarterback Grayson James can win FIU some games with his big arm. He just needs to cut back on his turnovers so he has a chance to be special.
Hopefully, the incoming talent can replicate something the former guys were able to do but this is still a rebuilding. FIU has a chance to be good in a few years, but don’t expect much this season.
It’s tough to predict FIU’s win total with how wide open their conference is (C-USA).