Washington Jumps To No. 4 In CFP Rankings As Florida State Falls To No. 5 After Injury To Star QB Jordan Travis
The Washington Huskies reached the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night at No. 4 after inching closer and closer to that spot in recent weeks.
What put Washington (11-0, 8-0 Pac-12) over the high five hump was the injury to star quarterback Jordan Travis of previously No. 4 Florida State (11-0, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference). Travis, the senior leader and heart of the Seminoles' offense, broke his leg early in Florida State's win over North Alabama on Saturday night. And the Seminoles now find themselves ranked fifth.
While ESPN's Heather Dinich insisted in recent days that the CFP selection committee would not weigh the injury to Travis, ESPN's Rece Davis said on the rankings show that, "It did. It had to."
Florida State Not The Same Without QB Jordan Travis
Florida State trailed North Alabama (3-8) by 13-0 at the time of Travis' injury and came back to win, 58-13. That was behind backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker, who completed 13 of 23 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns. But the question remained. The committe undoubtedly had to consider if Florida State is as good with Rodemaker as it was with Travis in addition to considering Washington.
The Huskies' No. 1 ranking in strength of record pushed it to No. 4.
Washington Huskies Have 3 Impressive Wins
Washington has wins over three teams in the top 16 of the CFP rankings released Tuesday night - No. 15 Arizona, 31-24, on the road on Sept. 30, No. 6 Oregon, 36-33, on Oct. 14 and No. 16 Oregon State, 22-20, on Saturday on the road and in the rain.
In addition to being without Travis now, Florida State has just two wins over CFP-ranked teams - No. 14 LSU, 45-24, on Sept. 3 and No. 24 Clemson, 31-24, in overtime on Sept. 23 at Clemson.
Washington hosts Washington State (5-6, 2-6 Pac-12) on Saturday (4 p.m., FOX) before playing in the Pac-12 championship game on Dec. 1 (8 p.m., ABC) likely against No. 6 Oregon (10-1, 7-1).
Florida State plays at Florida (5-6, 3-5 SEC) on Saturday (8 p.m., ESPN) before playing in the ACC championship game against No. 10 Louisville (10-1, 7-1 ACC) on Dec. 2 (8 p.m., ABC).
CFP selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan stuck to the party line about the committee's ranking process.
"It really was about Washington," he said.
Florida State QB Tate Rodemaker Must Prove Himself
Asked about Travis' injury by Davis, Corrigan said, "It didn't have any impact. They got a lot of dudes on the field. Anything beyond that (a drop because of Travis injury) is going to be projection."
But Davis said the committee's job, by definition, is to project through evaluation.
"That's what the next couple of weeks will be about," Corrigan said.
So, the committee will see how Florida State does over its next two games without Travis and make its final rankings before the playoffs via projection without Travis. And Travis, Boo, is the Dude.
Regardless of what Corrigan says, Florida State cannot be judged without the Jordan Travis factor, even if it wins out. Corrigan said the committee didn't do that Tuesday, but it sure looked like it. And either way, it will eventually have to project.
College Football Playoff Rankings Keep Georgia, Ohio State 1, 2
The top two teams in the rankings remained No. 1 Georgia (11-0) and No. 2 Ohio State (11-0). The Buckeyes play at No. 3 Michigan (11-0) on Saturday (Noon, FOX) in what may amount to a playoff game in itself. Michigan will be without suspended coach Jim Harbaugh.
The rest of the top 10 had Oregon (10-1) at No. 6, followed by No. 7 Texas (10-1), No. 8 Alabama (10-1), No. 9 Missouri (9-2) and No. 10 Louisville (10-1.)