Greg McElroy on FSU's 0-3 start: 'It's going to get ugly'

The Florida State Seminoles are off to a frustrating 0-3 start to their 2024 season and, unfortunately for FSU, college football analyst Greg McElroy thinks it’s going to get uglier before it gets better.

McElroy explained on Always College Football that this start has been a disaster for FSU, especially considering the preseason expectations. In fact, it’s those expectations that may have led to mistakes and the slow start that the Seminoles are enduring.

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“Florida State is 0-3,” Greg McElroy said. “They just lost to Memphis and this is a really, really disappointing performance. They’re the ninth preseason top-10 team in the AP Poll era to lose their first three games of the season. They’re the only preseason top-10 team to lose their first three games of the season all to unranked teams. I’m not gonna beat a dead horse here, I’m not. You guys have watched it. What do you make of what you’ve seen from Florida State?”

FSU is coming off an unbeaten regular season in 2023 where the Seminoles won the ACC but were left out of the College Football Playoff. This is something that McElroy believes has hung over the program and impacted how the team going into 2024.

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“Here’s where my problems lie. Florida State made their bed. They did. They made their bed when they became a victim last year of the unfair nature of college football. Yes, what happened to them last year was completely unfair. I hate it. I ate that we only had a four-team Playoff and I hate that they were on the outside looking in, for them. Do I think the committee got it right? Yes. I still do. At the same time, this is a group that became the victim and made complaints and is now saying we’re gonna challenge our Grant of Rights and all this stuff. There’s so many reasons why Florida State came into the season with distractions already built in,” McElroy said.

“Having to atone for last year. Going to the portal and feeling as though instead of just continuing their process of developing high school talent. Hey, you just had a year where you went 13-1, ‘Let’s stay in our routine and lean into the high school players. Let’s not go all in on the portal. We have a good culture that we built last year. We have a good culture that we have in place. Let’s lean on our high school players and we’re gonna take a big step back this year, but guess what? In 2025 and beyond, we’re going to be better because of the growing pains that we’ve had here in 24.'”

This season, there is almost no chance FSU makes it to the College Football Playoff, even with an expanded field, thanks to their 0-3 start. That includes an 0-2 conference record when winning the ACC seems like the quickest path to the Playoff.

“Instead they go out to the portal, they get a bunch of different guys, several of which are not upgrades at the position, and they’re now off to an 0-3 start. I’m telling you, man, it’s not gonna get much easier because some of the teams they have coming up are going to take great pride in absolutely pounding Florida State because of how Florida State has acted in closed door meetings about their presence and their importance in the ACC,” McElroy said. “This is gonna get ugly and it’s gonna get ugly quickly.”

Next up for FSU is another ACC game. This one will be against the California Golden Bears and if FSU loses it would be their first 0-4 start since the 2021 season.