Not that I had any doubts, but I just checked the latest Associated Press football poll to see if Florida State had dropped out of the rankings completely following Thursday’s 24-20 loss at N.C. State. Yep.

At 3-2, the ‘Noles deserve to be unranked. In the AP story I read, the following paragraph really caught my attention: For the first time in 24 years, neither Miami nor Florida State is ranked. Wow!

Miami dropped from the poll earlier this season for the first time since 1999, and FSU now joins them. The last time neither was ranked was the final regular-season AP Top 25 of 1982, the year before Miami won the first of its five national championships. FSU was unranked late last season after losing three in a row, but Miami was in the poll that week. It just shows how the Big 3 have really dropped off in recent years.

Of course, Florida moved to No. 2 in the latest poll—the Gators’ highest-ranking since Steve Spurrier left town. But they have spent time out of the poll in recent years as well.

I think it’s safe to say that with all the parity in college football these days, the days of FSU, Florida and Miami being ranked in the Top 10 annually are over for good. Or at least until they start preventing most of the state’s elite recruits from leaving the Florida and playing elsewhere, such as C.J. Spiller choosing Clemson.