Dan Mullen reacts to Florida State getting snubbed from the College Football Playoff

Outrage is pouring out of Tallahassee today after the selection committee left Florida State out of the College Football Playoff. However, rather than focus on the bigger picture, Dan Mullen shared the difficulty of the message that is now being shared within the Seminoles’ locker room.

Mullen spoke about the decision to leave the undefeated ‘Noles out of the playoff on ESPN on Sunday. Over everything else, Mullen turned his attention to Mike Norvell. He noted how hard it’s going to be for the head coach to make this make sense for his players.

“He has to go explain to 18 to 22 year olds – you did everything that was asked of you. You did more!” said Mullen. “You did more than most teams have done. There has been very few undefeated national champions. Most national champions have lost. You’ve done it all – yet this group of 13 people decided that you didn’t deserve it, even though you earned it on the field.”

“That’s a hard moment for him to come up with and to explain to those young men,” Mullen said.

Florida State became the first undefeated, Power Five team to miss the cut in the playoff era. The loss of QB Jordan Travis to a season-ending injury was at the root of that historic choice. Still, that justification is no less frustrating to those at or who are fans of FSU.

That’s why, following the slight on Sunday, AD Michael Alford as well as Norvell both had choice words for those involved in this decision.

“Our players, coaches, and fans – as well as all those who love this sport – deserve better. The committee failed college football today,” wrote Alford in a statement.

“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,” Norvell continued in his own statement. “I’m hurting for our players who have displayed a tremendous amount of resilience and response this season. What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football. A team that overcame tremendous adversity and found a way to win doing whatever it took on the field was cheated today. It’s a sad day for college football.”

This is a day that, for all the wrong reasons, Florida State will never forget. Now, all they can do is try to move on to the Orange Bowl with those in charge being able to offer little more than apologies for what happened.