College Football Rankings Week 5: How far should Florida State fall?

Florida State went into last week's showdown with Oklahoma with a legitimate opportunity to climb up near the top of the AP rankings.

They had the No. 1 Sooners coming to the Seminoles' home field to face a raucous Saturday night crowd and the No. 5 Seminoles.

When the dust had settled, the Sooners held off the 'Noles 23-13.  The loss sent the Seminoles from No. 5 to a No. 11 Ranking.

The Seminoles didn't have time to lick their wounds before facing a red hot No. 21 Clemson team with a dynamic offense led by Sophomore quarterback Tajh Boyd.

The Seminoles were shredded by Boyd all day, who threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns, as Clemson downed the 'Noles 35-30.

The Seminoles' offense woke up under the leadership of Clint Trickett who made the start for the injured E.J. Manuel.   In the losing effort, Trickett threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns.

Now, with the rest of the ACC schedule on the horizon, with a record 2-2 overall and already 0-1 in conference, the AP voters are now looking at a team who has lost two straight games to some tough teams with the status of their quarterback, E.J. Manuel uncertain for their game against Wake next week. 

How much will the voters penalize FSU for the past two weeks?

After losing to Oklahoma, the 'Noles were dropped six spots.  This, despite the fact that FSU was ranked four spots behind the Sooners and the Sooners are No. 1 overall.

Now, they have lost again, but this time to the No. 21 team—a team ranked 10 spots behind FSU.

It would stand to reason that given the fact that FSU was ranked ahead of Clemson, that this loss would hurt them more in the rankings.

Ironically, the fact that the Seminoles looked so good on offense with their backup quarterback may in fact hurt the Seminoles in the eyes of the voters.

Had the defense played well against Clemson, and the offense looked directionless under a backup, perhaps the voters would believe that it wasn't the "real" FSU that lost to Clemson.  They may have perhaps given FSU the benefit of the doubt until word was reached on the condition of Manuel moving forward.

However, the FSU defense simply did not look like a top-25 defense on Saturday afternoon.

The loss should hurt FSU big time this week. 

Don't look for the Seminoles to be completely knocked out of the AP rankings when they come out today, but look for a number in the 20s next to the name Florida State.

I believe they will be the No. 23 Seminoles when the polls come out.