When the announcement finally made its way to ESPN on Sunday afternoon, most pigskin fans were bracing for a college football playoff snub. After all, there were only four spots open, with three undefeated teams, all of whom were conference champions, and four one-loss teams. Of those one-loss teams, two were conference champions.
So any way we sliced it, someone worthy was going to be left out of the college football playoff.
Prior to this season, no undefeated Power-5 conference champion had failed to be selected for the four-team playoff, which expanded from two teams in the 2014 season.
Also prior to this season, every four-team playoff included at least one SEC school
It was looking like one of those streaks was about to end. And it did. For the undefeated Power 5 conference champion – and undefeated – Florida State Seminoles.
Florida State came into championship weekend ranked fourth in the CFP poll. They beat a top 12 team, while a team in front of them in the rankings lost. Yet they fell one spot and out of the playoff.
So when the College Football Playoff Committee released its rankings, TV anchors and social media users responded with passion, arguing why Florida State should have been included in the playoff rather than being kicked to the curb. (I particularly liked EJ Manuel’s response on the ACC Network, which you can view here.)
Is it the ACC?
One argument that hurts FSU is the strength of their conference. The Atlantic Coast Conference has long been viewed as one of the two weakest football conferences of the Power-5 (if not the weakest). Although FSU was 3-0 against ranked opponents, their strength of schedule was 55th, far worse than any of the other candidates for those last two playoff spots.
Of the teams selected for the playoff, all were conference champions from the other four Power 5 conferences: the SEC, Big Ten, Pac 12, and Big 12. Coincidentally, that Pac-12 winner will join the Big Ten next year, and that Big-12 champ will be in the SEC next year. So essentially, this playoff is an all Big-Ten/SEC playoff.
Did the Playoff Committee just send a message to the ACC?
Never mind that ACC teams were 6-4 against SEC teams this year. Perception is everything, and college football has long suffered from perceived SEC supremacy. Sure, their conference has won six of the nine playoffs and thirteen of the last seventeen football national titles. But that does not automatically mean that the following year will be the same.
The way to break that pattern is for teams from other leagues to win. But if an undefeated ACC champion is not even allowed to compete for a title, then the perpetuation of that pattern goes on and the ACC is relegated to second class, as it was in this college football playoff snub.
Is it the Quarterback Injury?
The College Football Playoff Committee admitted that the injury to Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis was a significant factor in their decision to leave the Seminoles out of the playoff. In fact, the College Football Playoff Committee has written criteria for selection, one of which is the following:
“Other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.”
While I respect the Committee’s transparency, I thoroughly disagree with it. Partly because it puts expectation and opinion into the decision, and partly because it is hypocritical.
For the first part, it is clear from this decision that the Committee is putting who they “think” is the best team. Results on the field only matter to a certain extent. The rest of the equation is how the Committee believes a team will fare in the playoff. Perhaps they want to avoid another championship blowout like the one they had last year between Georgia and TCU?
Sports are unpredictable. But the Committee is trying to predict their playoff. They are choosing who they believe are the best teams, not necessarily who earned their way in. They have been fortunate in getting the seeding correct most of the time, but this year, perception clearly was a big factor in the decision.
For the second part, it is pure hypocrisy to leave a team out of the playoff because of an injury. The very first College Football Playoff involved an Ohio State team who was on their third-string quarterback. They won the title.
(Yes, Ohio State won their Big Ten title game 59-0 with that third-string quarterback, but that brings up the idea of margin of victory. If margin of victory matters, then teams will run up scores. It will also prioritize offense, over defense, and that is another can of worms to open)
A few years ago, Alabama won the title when second-string freshman Tua Tagovailoa was put into the game during overtime and delivered a championship-winning touchdown pass.
So it is possible for backups to rise to the occasion, especially when the rest of their team is championship caliber.
The other aspect of this hypocrisy is the expectation that FSU will not be competitive with their current offense. Yes, they only scored 16 points against a very good Louisville defense in the ACC title game. But FSU’s defense was dominant.
Michigan played a similar game in their Big Ten championship victory over Iowa. The Wolverines gained only 213 total yards, six less than Florida State, but was there any discussion of their lack of offense?
And thus, we are back at the idea of “perception.” Michigan has all of their starters and they were in the playoff last year. They are the beneficiary of a bias that unfortunately did not go Florida State’s way. The “eye-test” includes past performance as well as the ability to score an abundance of points, and teams that play lock down defenses just aren’t sexy enough for a college football playoff.
Sorry Florida State.
Is it the $EC?
Perhaps the real reason that Florida State was left out of the College Football Playoff is because their inclusion would have meant the SEC’s exclusion.
Think about it: Alabama beat Georgia in a de facto playoff game, so the Bulldogs could not get in over the Crimson Tide. However, Big 12 champion Texas finished with the same record as Alabama, but they beat the Tide by ten points in Tuscaloosa. How could the Longhorns be left out?
Had Texas and Florida State been seeded third and fourth, then the SEC would have been shut out for the first time in playoff history. And, as mentioned above, that would result in a non-SEC champ for only the fifth time since 2005.
The reality is that the SEC and Big Ten are driving the college football bus right now. Those two conferences make the most money in TV revenues, and they have deep-pocketed alumni and passionate fanbases across widespread regions, especially the SEC. Against the ACC, there is no comparison.
Leaving the SEC out of the playoff picture would likely have greater negative ramifications from viewers than if the other conferences were turned away. Outside of the state of Florida and the ACC headquarters in Charlotte, where they will wave this flag for as long as they can (and FSU may use it to springboard themselves out of the ACC), this decision to omit Florida State will likely blow over in a week, and most eyes will be ready for the playoffs at the turn of the new year.
I don’t know if I could say the same if the SEC was left out.
Final Thoughts on Florida State’s 2023 College Football Playoff Snub
As I alluded to in the opening, there was no obvious choice for the third and fourth College Football Playoff seeds. All three choices – Texas, Alabama, and Florida State – would have significant beef if they were omitted.
Unfortunately for Florida State and the ACC, they got the axe.
I am not ok with this. Not because I think they got it wrong, but because of the hypocrisy and mixed messages. (College Football Playoff chairman Boo Corrigan apparently said that Liberty earned a New Year’s Six bowl because they “just continued to win.”)
Let us be clear here. The playoff committee is selecting who they think are the “best” teams, not the “most deserving.” They have been transparent with that notion. There is no doubt that Alabama is among the best teams right now. But so is Georgia. We could even argue Ohio State too.
It is arguable, though, that the current playoff teams are the four most deserving. And the Committee does not look to reward teams that are most deserving.
As reported by The Ringer, the Playoff Committee’s executive director Bill Hancock admitted as much. “Most deserving is not anything in the Committee’s lexicon,” he said. “The (Committee members) are to rank the best teams in order, and that’s what they do. Just keep that word in mind: best teams.”
And this is where I struggle the most with this decision. Isn’t the number one goal of all sports competitions to win? And isn’t that what every playoff does – reward the winner with a championship?
If an undefeated Power 5 team with a 3-0 record against top-25 teams is denied the opportunity to reach that very goal of a championship because a group of men don’t think they are good enough, then why even play the regular season?
If looking at the rosters and scoreboards are what determines who is best, then why not just play a few scrimmages and put the SEC and Big Ten champs in the final and let them play for the national title?
Again, I understand that this was a lose-lose situation once Alabama beat Georgia. It is a flawed system that thankfully will be adjusted next year when the playoff goes to 12-teams (no, the argument between two or three loss teams ranked twelfth and thirteenth is not nearly as significant as it is for undefeated and one-loss teams ranked fourth and fifth)!
However, next year’s change does not undo the College Football Playoff snub of this year, definitely the worst of its kind in the playoff era.
For whatever reason – the injured quarterback, the poor perception of the ACC, or the money and power of the SEC – the College Football Playoff Committee just did something it cannot undo – punish a team for doing its competitive best – in the name of money.
College football is already headed down a dark path. I’m afraid it just got darker.
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