“I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the games,” Florida State University Head Coach Mike Norvell said. “What is the point of playing games? Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down?”
Norvell’s statement was released shortly after finding out Florida State was not chosen as the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff. The University of Alabama was given the No. 4 seed while FSU was given the No. 5 seed.
In the College Football Playoff, the top 4 teams are selected by a committee to compete for the national championship. The other teams outside of the top 4 are not able to reach the national championship game, meaning a spot in the semifinals is so desired.
The rankings wound up being, No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida State, No. 6 Georgia, and No. 7 Ohio State. I believe FSU should have been the fourth team in the CFP, not Alabama.
During the regular season, Alabama finished 12-1, with notable wins over Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, and Georgia, in the SEC Championship.
This season, Florida State went 13-0 this season, with wins against LSU and Duke, while also beating Louisville by a score of 16-6 in the ACC Championship.
Florida State did everything right, and still fell short. FSU went undefeated. FSU won the ACC Championship. FSU had three top-20 wins. FSU lost their leader and quarterback, Jordan Travis, and still went on to win two games.
Alabama lost one game, and FSU did not. Yet, Alabama earns the spot. Why?
According to the College Football Playoff committee chair Boo Corrigan, Florida State is not the same as it once was earlier on in the season.
“Florida State is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks,” said Corrigan. “An incredible season. But as you look at who they are as a team, right now, without Jordan Travis, without the offensive dynamic that he brings to it, they are a different team.”
Yes, right now FSU is a completely different team without Travis, but their success is not reliant on one player. Their team is filled with a room of athletes and players, not just Jordan Travis. With this logic by the CFP, Jordan Travis should win the Heisman Trophy, if he is this valuable to the team; yet, Travis was not one of the four finalists for the award.
Booger McFarland, who is a Football Analyst, was the first person to express his opinion on national television.
“To me, this is a travesty to the sport. Because we go out there on the field and we play the game. And regardless of if it looks good at the quarterback position, regardless of if we win with offense, whether we win with defense, the name of the game is to win,” McFarland said. “This is about understanding to get the four best teams. One team has a loss, and that’s Alabama. One team doesn’t, in Florida State.”
Florida State is in a Power 5 Conference. The ACC may not be as strong as the SEC, yet when ACC teams played against SEC teams this year, ACC teams went 6-4. One of these games was Florida State beating, at the time, No. 5 LSU by three touchdowns.
The CFP has not had a year where an SEC team did not make the top 4 rankings, and this year should have been the first year. Yes, Alabama vs Michigan will most likely be a better game than FSU vs. Michigan. However, it’s not about who’s going to make the game a better contest, it’s about who deserves the No. 4 spot. One team had a loss, and the other team did not.
So, who truly deserved to be in the College Football Playoff as the No. 4 team?
The Florida State Seminoles.
