For the first nine years of the College Football Playoff (CFP), the selection committee has had it easy.

Every year the day after Championship Weekend, where conference champions were decided for all of the power five conferences, 13 athletic directors from a variety of schools selected what they believed were the four best teams that would compete for a national championship in the College Football Playoff. So far, none of the decisions have been difficult.

However, in 2023, this decision was not simple. For the first time, there were more than four teams that could make a serious case for a playoff berth. While the committee’s choice enraged fans, players and coaches of some teams and enlightened others, it did prove one thing: the CFP’s expansion to 12 teams in 2024 could not come soon enough.

“What is the point of playing games?” – CFP snub insults program’s year-long accomplishments

Owen Stoltz

The Florida State Seminoles (FSU) did everything right this season. With a perfect 13-0 record playing in the Power 5 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and winning a conference title against top-15 ranked Louisville, Florida State would have been a lock for the playoff any other year.

And they should have been this year.

In all likelihood, this would have been the case if not for the injury to their quarterback. In their Nov. 18 game against North Alabama, star quarterback Jordan Travis broke his leg, forcing backup Tate Rodemaker into the game. At the time, Travis did not know this injury would lead to the undefeated Seminoles getting left out of the playoff.

However, the series of unfortunate events for Florida State was just beginning.

In the final regular season game of the season against FSU’s rival Florida, Rodemaker suffered a concussion. True freshman Brock Glenn came into the game and helped secure a victory, but Rodemaker was not able to clear concussion protocol before the ACC Championship game on Dec. 2.

Florida State’s elite defense and running game pulled out a gritty win against a top offensive team in Louisville, holding a 30 point per game team to just six. Surely this performance to cap off an undefeated season would get them into the four team playoff, as there were only two other undefeated conference champions in Michigan and Washington. 

Once again this would be wrong.

Much to the shock of Florida State coach Mike Norvell and his players, FSU watched in a team viewing party as they were moved from their ranking of fourth in last week’s CFP rankings down to 5th, getting jumped by one-loss Big 12 champion Texas (previously 7th) and one-loss Southeastern Conference (SEC) champion Alabama (previously 8th). The disbelief and disappointment on the players’ faces was evident.

The decision signaled a litany of firsts for the committee. The first time an undefeated Power Five conference champion had been left out. The first time a team lower than 6th in the penultimate rankings has gotten in (two such teams got in). And the first time a team ranked in the top four in the penultimate rankings won and dropped out.

Despite these questionable firsts, the committee attempted to justify them.

It came down to the debate of which teams deserved to be in the playoff field versus who the best teams were. Based on Travis’ absence and the part of the CFP selection rules that states “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” can be considered, the committee viewed Florida State differently because of Travis’ absence.

CFP chair Boo Corrigan explained the selection. “Player availability was really important. You could lose a running back. You could lose a wide receiver. But a quarterback as dynamic as Jordan Travis changes their offense in its entirety. That was really a big factor for the committee as we went through everything. I feel horrible for Coach Norvell and the players. They’re a different team now than they were earlier in the year,” Corrigan said.

To give the committee credit, Travis’ absence hindered the team’s offensive production. Posting season lows in yards both games he was gone, FSU’s elite defense stepped up. And there is nothing wrong with this. The old saying “defense wins championships” has been around as long as organized sports have and FSU’s defensive production held Louisville and Florida to 21 points combined. This begs the question: who is to say this would not have continued into the playoff?

Corrigan continued to emphasize that the committee chooses teams based on how they look at the moment. “One of the questions that we ask from a coaching standpoint is, ‘Who do you want to play? Who do you not want to play?’ We are looking at where we are today. Not where we were three weeks ago or eight weeks ago.”

Senior and avid football fan Matt Pischke disagreed with Corrigan. “You might as well pick teams one through four at the beginning of the season and do the playoff right away. There’s no point in playing if the committee is going to pick whoever they want to play at the end of the season, not who needs to play. FSU doesn’t have much control over who they play. They beat the teams in front of them, they did everything asked of them, they did everything they could do to win and they got scammed,” Pischke exclaimed.

If the committee only looks at the present and not at the season-long accomplishments of a team, why do teams play a 12 game season beginning in early September and ending in late November? Why is the college football season not one game to decide who is in the playoff? Why even play the games at all?

This last question is where the root of the problem can be found. Florida State did everything asked of them. They scheduled a ranked non-conference opponent in LSU, who had a future Heisman-winning quarterback, and beat them by 21 points. They didn’t lose a game all year in a power five conference. But they still got left out in favor of teams that had something they didn’t: a loss.

What else could they do to make their case as a playoff team? If the decision showed anything, it showed the CFP does not value the ACC as much as the other four of the power five conferences and that they could not have a playoff without the SEC, a conference that has won 13 of the last 17 national championships but went 4-6 against the ACC this season.

FSU coach Mike Norvell’s reaction was justifiably angered. “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. 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?” Norvell exclaimed.

Florida State athletic director Michael Alford offered a similar sentiment in a statement from the university. “The argument of whether a team is the ‘most deserving OR best’ is a false equivalence. It renders the season up to yesterday irrelevant and significantly damages the legitimacy of the College Football Playoff. The 2023 Florida State Seminoles are the epitome of a total TEAM. To eliminate them from a chance to compete for a national championship is an unwarranted injustice that shows complete disregard and disrespect for their performance and accomplishments. It is unforgivable.”

Ethan Eckstrom is a co-host of the sports betting podcast “Show me the Money.” Originally agreeing with the committee, Eckstrom changed his mind about whether FSU should have gotten in after connecting the situation to his own favorite team, the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“If you know anything about Hawkeye football it’s that little to no offense is played for four quarters of football. But, if the Hawks were to go undefeated and win the conference championship, it should be no questions asked, they make it, no matter which quarterback got them there,” Eckstrom explained.

On top of getting the selection wrong, the committee has not stayed consistent with its reasoning either. After defeating Florida with a backup quarterback, they still ranked the Noles at number four. 

If Travis’ absence really mattered, FSU would have been jumped by a team like Texas before their conference championship game.

Pischke similarly believes the committee’s logic has been inconsistent. “The committee in the second to last ranking said FSU was the fourth best team, they had FSU ranked at fourth, that was after they had won with their backup QB so the committee had already said that FSU with their backup Tate Rodemaker was the fourth best team in the country and then they won their conference championship game with a worse quarterback and they got dropped. That doesn’t make any sense,” Pischke stated.

More hypocrisy from the committee was highlighted by college football analyst Booger McFarland, who called the decision a “travesty to the sport” and brought up the issue of Alabama winning a close game against a team with a losing record just weeks ago. “Those kids have went out there and busted their behinds. And to not get into the Playoff based on the eye test. Because, mind you, this is the same Alabama team who needed a prayer in Jordan-Hare to beat an Auburn team that lost to New Mexico State.”

The committee continued to stay inconsistent with their logic in the final rankings. If Travis’ absence mattered so much, a team like Georgia who hadn’t lost a game since the 2021 SEC championship and barely lost to Alabama in this year’s SEC Championship would have easily been ranked ahead of a quarterback-less FSU.

Coincidentally, it came down to choosing which conference the committee believed mattered more, and they chose the conference with the motto “it just means more.” By including a one-loss Alabama over Florida State, the committee showed that they give an automatic bid to the SEC no matter what. Even in a year when no teams in the conference deserved the playoff, they still put the SEC in.

If previously undefeated Georgia had won the SEC Championship game, this would have been easy. They could just put the four undefeated teams in. But because Alabama won and Texas beat Alabama in week two, to put an SEC team in meant undefeated FSU would be left out. This blatant SEC bias is not only dangerous to the fairness of the system, but it also reveals the hidden motives behind the selection.

Even though the outcome cannot be predicted, the committee chose the games they believed would have the best ratings. Comparing the viewership 18-time national champion Alabama would bring compared to an FSU team with a backup quarterback, another layer is uncovered behind the decision.

The statement from Alford perfectly explained the committee’s attempt to predict the future. “Wins matter. Losses matter. Those that compete in the arena know this. Those on the committee who also competed in the sport and should have known this have forgotten it. Today, they changed the way success is assessed in college football, from a tangible metric – winning on the field – to an intangible, subjective one. Evidently, predicting the future matters more.”

While the obvious effect of the decision is Florida State’s inability to compete for a title they deserved a chance at, the unseen burden falls on the players and coaches, who lost out on what was rightfully theirs because of a long-standing bias and a focus on TV ratings over teams.

Jordan Travis posted a depressing message on X (formerly Twitter) following the decision. “devastated. heartbroken. In so much disbelief rn, I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!” he wrote.

When a player is apologizing for an injury and wishing it could have happened sooner, it is not only depressing, it not only shows the dedication to his team, but it also shows the failure of the committee in leaving FSU out because of one player. A college football team is made up of more than 100 players, but for a decision to be made based on one discredits the accomplishments of all.

Florida State has been scheduled to play in the Orange Bowl against Georgia on Dec. 30, 2023 in a matchup of the first two teams out of the playoff. FSU should think long and hard about whether to participate, because after all, the games don’t really matter.

The best four teams: The committee got it right

Luke Allaman

While people around the country react to the committee’s decision to leave Florida State (FSU) out of the playoffs, one underlying thought remains; the committee made the right decision.

FSU has had an undeniably incredible year, going 13-0 and winning the ACC. Their record alone is strong, but below the surface lies a perfectly sensible reason for their being left out. 

The committee has stated a major factor in determining who gets in is how a team performs under their strength of schedule (SOS). FSU was ranked 55 in SOS while Alabama was 5 in SOS. Even Texas was 13 in SOS. Texas and Alabama did both have losses, but Texas lost to 12 ranked Oklahoma in a major rivalry game. Alabama’s only loss came to Texas. 

Why even play the games if an undefeated team isn’t valued as much as two one-loss teams? Teams still need to prove they can be dominant on the biggest stages. FSU boasts a 45-24 game one victory, where star quarterback Jordan Travis threw over 340 yards, beating LSU, who was ranked fifth at the time.. Alabama also shares a win versus LSU in a 42-28 game.

Alabama would finish the year with the biggest win of all in the SEC championship, a 27-24 win over the first ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Texas went on to win their championship game in a decisive fashion, with a 49-21 win over Oklahoma St. in the Big-12 Championship. FSU however, struggled in their bowl game. Without starting quarterback Travis, they would only lead 10-6 until there was under four minutes left in the fourth quarter where they would kick two field goals to win 16-6.

FSU fans are also quick to point out how Alabama barely beat Auburn at the end of a 27-24 game. Yet, FSU barely snuck out a 31-29 win against 6-6 Boston College. Texas and Alabama were also ranked 5 and 7 in overall team efficiency where FSU was 10.

The question of whether or not conference bias was in place was also brought up. The committee was sure to mention in its explanation that they did not look at the SEC as a more powerful conference than the ACC. Still, the SEC has won 13 of the last 17 championships, so it is safe to assume they have a good reputation. Between the ACC and SEC this year, the ACC beat the SEC head-to-head with a tally of 6 winning games and 4 losses. But none of the SEC teams who lost (except LSU to FSU) were ranked in the top 25 at the end of the season.

Football coach Joe Youngbauer agreed the committee chose the best four teams, but ultimately the playoff expansion next year will help resolve this issue. “There were a lot of really good teams this year, but when you break down who the toughest ones are I think Alabama would be Florida State head-to-head. Really it’s hard to choose a right answer with the talented teams this year and it will be interesting to see the responses to expanded future brackets,” he said.

The committee also noted that the lack of influential players or coaches could also factor into the decision of who gets into the playoffs. FSU notably missed their starting quarterback Jordan Travis following a broken leg in a game against Northern Alabama. To say their team could have the same dynamic without him would be untrue. Travis finished fifth in the Heisman voting this year for the best player in college football. Their offense also averaged over 40 points per game with him, but in the last two games they didn’t break 25 points.

Senior football player Mason Breen agrees FSU no longer was a playoff team after Travis’s injury. “Florida State losing their quarterback made it so then they didn’t really have a shot of winning it all, so I think Alabama is a much better selection. I think there should be more controversy over Georgia missing the playoffs rather than Florida State,” he stated.

With all of the data present before them, the committee still needed to make justifications thinking through a strictly football mindset. As there were members who have coached in the past, they brought up the question of “Who do they want to play? Who do they not want to play?” With these questions, it can become easy to distinguish who the true best four teams are, and not just who the general public thinks is in. Alabama presented themselves as a true threat at the end of the season, more so than FSU. And then, they couldn’t leave Texas out and put in Alabama due to head-to-head matchups.

Consider the following. There are two students applying to a prestigious college, but only one can get in. One student took all the regular classes and got all A’s. The other took mostly honors classes but got an A- in his hardest class. The second student also got a 5 on the AP calculus exam at the end of the year, while the first student got a 3. Would the college take the kid with the perfect GPA or the kid with the near-perfect GPA but more rigorous schedule?

If the second student is accepted, the first will likely question what the point of all A’s was if it doesn’t get them into the best college. But the second kid has shown they have the ability to do better under pressure because they performed well in harsher environments.

With all of the controversy surrounding this year, it is just further proof the playoffs are in desperate need of the expansion. With everything said, the correct teams will be squaring off in the playoffs this year.