Noles News: FSU placed No. 35 in final preseason SP+ rankings

Football:

The Jasen Lopez hype isn’t just coming from Tallahassee; Manny Navarro put together his list of fifteen freshmen who will impact the 2026 and be either day 1 starters or significant contributors and Lopez came in at No.13.

Mike Norvell has doled out heavy praise for the 6-foot, 182-pound South Florida native, saying Lopez has put himself in position to challenge “for significant opportunities.” The Seminoles have Duce Robinson and Micahi Danzy lined up to be a tough combination on the outside, but Lopez is battling Jayvan Boggs — who is returning from injury — for reps as the team’s No. 3 receiver. Lopez is also expected to play on FSU’s basketball team.

He’s also in line to make a big impact on special teams; he’s currently the odds-on favorite to be FSU’s starting punt returner:

On the punt return front, true freshman receiver Jasen Lopez has emerged as the frontrunner to start there, pairing with perhaps an immediate role on offense as well. Other names thrown into the punt return mix were Jayvan Boggs, Devin Carter and even Duce Robinson.

“Jasen Lopez has shown the ability, confidence, moxie for a true freshman to be the guy,” Scheier said. 

CBSSports ranked the top 150 college football players of 2026 and Duce Robinson and Mandrell Desir were the Seminoles that made the list. They also ranked all 138 FBS teams and FSU came in at 38th.

Bill Connelly also released his final preseason S&P rankings and that list has FSU at 35th and ranks its schedule as the No. 34th hardest in the country.

ACC Road Show made a stop in Tallahassee — here’s interviews with Mike Norvell, Michael Alford, Duce Robinson, Ashton Daniels and Ashlynd Barker:

The preseason book on Florida State is that they’re a top-25 team talent wise but a tough October and history says that they will likely finish between 5 & 7 wins with bowl eligibility being in question for the majority of the season.

It’s two weeks until kickoff and FSU highlighted the career of FSU’s second heisman winner yesterday: Chris Weinke:

All Sports:

Everyone, please welcome Jessi Wynn to the Tomahawk Nation team with her first article recapping last night’s season opener:

FSU Soccer started its push for a sixth-star aka sixth national championship with a resounding 4-0 victory over Steton last night; a scoreless first half led to 3 goals over a 9-minute span after halftime and the ‘Noles never looked back:

Women’s Basketball starts open the season against Merrimack:

AJ Swinton is back on the court after tearing his ACL last season; he also celebrated his 19th birthday yesterday: