Liam Rooney, Tallahassee DemocratMon, December 8, 2025 at 3:55 AM UTC·1 min readFlorida State football's season is officially over, for real this time, as the Seminoles declined a bowl game invitation.
According to On3, the Seminoles denied an invitation to take part in the postseason. The move is not unexpected, as the program held no interest in accepting a bowl invitation if it lost to Florida, which it did 40-21 to end the season with five wins.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBowl games typically require a program to have won six games. However, in instances where there aren't enough teams that meet that criterion, either through opt outs or lack of a qualfiying record, the Academic Progress Rate (APR) - which measures team academic success - is used, and it can open the door to bowl games for programs like the Seminoles, who finished the season 5-7, but have a high APR.
The decision officially closes this chapter of Seminole football as Mike Norvell continues to hold exit meetings, make staff decisions, and navigate the transfer portal in an effort to improve the FSU roster after going 7-17 over the last two seasons.
FSU joins Auburn, UCF, Baylor, Rutgers, Temple and Kansas as five-loss teams to pass on a bowl game. Additionally, both Iowa State and Kansas State denied postseason opportunities, despite eclipsing the six-win mark, due to coaching changes. Notre Dame, after being left out of the College Football Playoff, also announced on Sunday that it would not participate in a bowl game.
Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @__liamrooney.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State football passes on participating in bowl game
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