The Selection Committee Got It Right: Florida State Was Unfortunate And Not Deserving: Bill Graff
Please stop your whining about the selection committee.
Here's the deal: They had 5 deserving teams and 4 spots. Actually, Oregon and Georgia are both worthy of competing, but I digress. The selection committee was going to piss someone off. In picking Alabama over Florida State, they pissed off FSU fans and the angry masses of sports journalists that love jumping on controversy.
Alabama upsets #1 Georgia setting up the college football playoff drama. (Photo by Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
Here are a few facts that are being missed by the X crowd that have their panties in a wad.
Facts The Selection Committee Considered
1: The Power 5 always has 5 champions for 4 spots in the semi's. For nine years, we've had at least one conference not represented. So yes, an undefeated conference champion has never been left out, but a few one loss conference champions have.
2: The committee states that part of the criteria used to judge teams includes: "that an impactful player or coach not being available for the CFP would be considered in the evaluation." This kept Notre Dame out the year that Brian Kelly left the Irish for LSU.
Jordan Travis was the best player on Florida State, their captain and their leader. When he went down with a season ending injury, it was a huge blow to FSU's offense.
3: The SEC, whether you like it or not, is the strongest conference in football. They are deeper and have more good football teams than any other conference.
AP TOP 25 ON DECEMBER 3rd.
4: Texas beat Alabama 34-24 on September 9th. Florida State beat LSU 45-24 on September 3rd. Alabama beat #1 Georgia 27-24 on December 2nd. You can't leave Texas out.
Michigan and Washington looked like great teams all year. They won all their games and beat great teams along the way. They were locks. Florida State looked great all year and beat great teams. Then they lost their best player.
In the two games that the Seminoles played without Jordan Travis, their offense was dormant. In their 24-15 win over 5-7 Florida, they had 224 total yards of offense. Backup QB Tate Rodemaker threw for 134 yards. In the 16-6 ACC Championship win over Louisville, third-string QB Jack Plummer threw for 111 yards. The team had 188 total yards.
Alabama beat the undefeated two-time National Champion Georgia Bulldogs 27-24 in the SEC Championship. Their QB, Carson Beck, threw for 243 yards and they gained 321 yards in the game against Alabama's defense.
Florida St. Has Holes
Results matter. I get that Florida St. has a perfect record. The job of the committee is to pick the 4 best teams on December 3rd. Without Jordan Travis, Florida St. is not in the Top 10.
Watch Michigan's reaction when they heard they had to play the Tide.
The selection committee, college football people who know the game, and Michigan's football team all know Alabama is a very tough opponent. That reaction if Florida State would be the choice would have been wildly different.
Yes, a 4-team playoff means that a deserving team gets left home. This year, that team was undefeated. Next year, when we go to 12 teams, this won't be an issue. Remember, this system is 10-years-old, and is gone after this year.
Get over a severely depleted team that happened to win all its games not playing in the Semifinals. If they had, they would have gotten trucked. Alabama might get blown out too, but the committee believes they have a better shot.
When there are only 4 teams, you need the best 4 on December 3rd.