13-0, conference champion FSU left out of playoffs
By BOB FERRANTE The Osceola
A perfect regular season. A dominating defensive performance to win the ACC title.
But not good enough for the College Football Playoff.
Florida State (13-0) is stunningly out of the four-team CFP field, the first unbeaten Power 5 conference champion in 25 years of creating college football championship games or playoff fields to be left in the dark. Instead, the top 4 — Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama — will face off for the 2023 title.
FSU finishes at No. 5.
It would appear that the injury to FSU quarterback Jordan Travis and how the offense looked the last few weeks paired with Alabama’s win over Georgia in the SEC Championship Saturday was enough to move for the committee to move the Crimson Tide ahead of the Seminoles.
“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,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “What is the point of playing games? Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging non-conference games? We are not only an undefeated P5 conference champion, but we also played two P5 non-conference games away from home and won both of them. I don’t understand how we are supposed to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team.”
While much of the ESPN panel was in support of the CFP committee’s decision, analyst Booger McFarland spoke out against the decision in a major way.
“This is a travesty to our sport,” McFarland said on the broadcast.
The Seminoles campaigned for a spot in CFP, with Norvell, assistant coaches and players offering their opinions in the moments after the 16-6 win over Louisville on Saturday night.
In Norvell’s case, it was tough to fathom that this was even a discussion. But it was chaos rooted in Alabama’s win over Georgia in the SEC title game, which prompted debate about the five teams for four remaining spots.
FSU will instead play in the Orange Bowl against Georgia (12-1) on Dec. 30 on at 4 p.m. (ESPN).
