AM SORRY: Reason Why I Left Georgia bulldog today……
For many of us, today’s decision by the committee has forever damaged the credibility of the institution that is the College Football Playoff,” said Florida State University (FSU) athletics director Michael Alford.
Here is everything you need to know about why FSU was excluded and why the decision has been seen to be so controversial.
The Seminoles went 13-0 for the third time in program history. Their last two wins, however, came without their star quarterback, Jordan Travis, who suffered a broken leg in FSU’s home game against North Alabama on November 18, ending his season.
Instead of folding, Florida State rallied, coming from behind on the road to defeat Florida in Gainesville with backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker. But Rodemaker, with a head injury, wasn’t available for Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference title game against Louisville.
In stepped third-string quarterback Brock Glenn, a freshman, who helped the Seminoles do enough to defeat the Cardinals 16-6.
They may have been undefeated, but in the eyes of the members of the College Football Playoff committee, that wasn’t enough to sway them to include the Seminoles, instead selecting Alabama. With the selection, the Crimson Tide will make its eighth appearance in the College Football Playoff, the most of any team.
The Seminoles are the first undefeated team from a major Power-5 conference to be excluded from the playoffs since its inception in 2014.
Speaking on ESPN on Sunday, College Football Playoff committee chair Boo Corrigan explained why FSU was left out of the top four.
“Florida State is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks,” said Corrigan. “An incredible season. But as you look at who they are as a team, right now, without Jordan Travis, without the offensive dynamic that he brings to it, they are a different team.”
According to the College Football Playoff selection committee protocol guidelines, the decision is made based upon a series of factors, one of which includes “unavailability of key players.”
The College Football Playoff field is selected by a 13-member selection committee rather than by a simple win-loss record in part because teams play such different schedules.
The committee, made up of athletic directors and former coaches and players, ranks the teams based on their play on the field and considers conference championships, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition and comparative outcomes of common opponents.
Florida State, as the No. 5 seed, will face the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs in the Orange Bowl on December 30.
CNN contributor Cari Champion said she believes Alabama’s inclusion over Florida State was a decision based on TV ratings.
“I will be honest with you, that committee of people who sat in a room in Grapevine, Texas decide ratings matter most,” Champion told CNN This Morning’s Poppy Harlow and Phil Mattingly on Monday.
“This is not so much about the most deserving team, they felt that without Jordan (Travis), they weren’t going to be able to look as good on television, wouldn’t be able to have that many ratings.
“I honestly believe that is why they picked Alabama. Alabama is a powerhouse. The SEC – the conference in which they are in – is arguably the best that there is in college football, so is Nick Saban in terms of a coach.
