College Football Rankings 2011: Why No Team from Florida Will Finish in Top 25

For 30 years, the state of Florida has been virtually synonymous with college football success. Florida, Florida State and Miami have been power teams on a year-in, year-out basis.

This year, though, has been a dark one in the Sunshine State. After this week’s results, it’s looking increasingly plausible that the final Top 25 won’t see a single Florida school crack the rankings.

Here’s the outlook for the state’s top three programs as of Saturday’s games:

Florida (Last Week: No. 17  This Week: Lost 41-11 To LSU)

It’s hard to blame the Gators for getting shellacked on the road in a game in which their top two QBs were out with ankle injuries. More worrisome, though, is that Florida hasn’t looked like an SEC contender even when healthy.

The Gators still have No. 15 Auburn (next week) and No. 18 South Carolina (November 12), both on the road. Even if Brantley is able to start, those games are looking more and more like losses No. 3 and 4 of Will Muschamp’s debut season.

Florida State (Last Week: No. 23  This Week: Lost 35-30 To Wake Forest)

Bad luck appears to have sunk a Seminoles team that had a legitimate shot at the ACC title to start the year. The injury to E.J. Manuel’s shoulder that kept him out of last week’s loss to Clemson didn’t do him any favors against Wake Forest.

Meanwhile, leading rusher Chris Thompson fractured two vertebrae in the first quarter against the Demon Deacons. He’s not paralyzed, thankfully, but he certainly won’t be back on the field in the short term.

Add in continuing injury problems for supporting players like O-lineman Garrett Faircloth, and the season appears to be slipping away from Jimbo Fisher’s squad.

Miami (Last Week: Unranked  This Week:  Lost 38-35 To Virginia Tech)

The Hurricanes started the season with the weakest case for a spot in the rankings of this trio. They haven’t exactly improved their chances with their performance on the field.

Miami fell to 2-3 with their loss to the Hokies, having already been defeated by Kansas State (in Miami) and unranked Maryland. It’s hard to imagine enough high-level teams suffering a third loss for Miami to crawl back into the rankings even if it wins out from here.