December 6, 1982 was the last time that neither the University of Miami, Florida State or University of Florida football teams were in the AP poll. Since then the college football teams of the state of Florida had gone on to dominated modern college football, winning 10 national championship between them. Well, for the first time since 1982, all three teams are once again unranked, and for only the second time since then all three teams lost of the same day.
The Gators found themselves devastated for the second week in a row by a top-three opponent, this time by LSU. Perhaps UF has the best chance of climbing back into the polls sometime soon. A strong statement next week against Auburn plus wins against Georgia and Vanderbilt to follow it up would likely put the Gators back in the top 25 and keep them in contention to win the SEC East.
Florida State perhaps had the most embarrassing loss. Coming into the season ranked fifth in the pre-season, the Seminoles were supposed to be the banner team for the state this year, but a stunning loss to the historically lowly Wake Forrest cemented the notion that its losses against Oklahoma and Clemson weren't flukes.
Meanwhile, Miami put up a strong fight against Virginia Tech and nearly scored a come behind road win. Jacory Harris finally looked like the QB we were promised and didn't even throw an interception (a sad triumph to celebrate, actually). Unfortunately a crumbling and depleted defense let the game slip away. Now both FSU and Miami are 0-2 in the ACC, and would need miracles to compete.
It was the first time all three teams lost on the same day since October 30, 2004. Before that the last time that happened was 1978.
Of course, all three teams are under relatively new coaches, and maybe this is the college football Gods way of humbling us all before a new era of dominance? At least that's how we're hoping to take it.
Meanwhile, FIU, UCF and USF are surely kicking themselves. The little three were all off to strong seasons and could have found themselves ranked. Watch out for USF. With a 4-1 won record another win or two could put them back in the top 25 before UF gets a chance. The school might erect a sculpture of Skip Holtz then and there if he lead the team into the polls as the only representative from Florida.
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