Greg McElroy emphatic about Florida State deserving a chance in CFP

During Tuesday night’s College Football Playoff reveal show on ESPN, Greg McElroy stood firm in his case that Florida State should be in the field. The undefeated Seminoles are gearing up for the ACC Championship — without star quarterback Jordan Travis — but their CFP case is interesting if they finish 13-0.

Some think FSU shouldn’t finish in the top four with a victory because Travis is out due to injury. In fact, CFP committee chairman Boo Corrigan called the Seminoles “a different team” without him. But McElroy argued it’s not always the “four best” teams that make the four-team College Football Playoff field, but the “four deserving.”

That’s why he said an undefeated Florida State team should make the CFP.

“If you want the four best — to me, the four best teams — I would take the winner of the SEC Champ, I would take Michigan, I would take the winner of the Pac-12 and I would take Texas,” McElroy told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “I think those are the four best teams. But it’s not the four best teams. You cannot tell me that Florida State has not earned a right to play for the championship. They have. They have earned that right.

“Do I think they’re one of the four best teams? If they played Texas, I would pick Texas; if they played Bama, I would pick Bama; if they played Georgia, I would pick Georgia. If they played Ohio State, I’d probably pick Ohio State. But I cannot in good conscience, while having tremendous respect for the regular season, say that Florida State doesn’t deserve a chance. They absolutely deserve a chance.”

The question about Florida State’s CFP hopes gets murky depending on how conference championship weekend shakes out. All eyes are on Atlanta for what should be a competitive SEC Championship between Georgia and Alabama. If the Crimson Tide knock off the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs, the CFP committee will have some interesting decisions to make — and Florida State could get caught in the middle.

However, sometimes what some see as the “best” teams aren’t always the undefeated teams. McElroy pointed out a few examples on the reveal show this past week to make his point, and he said that’s why an undefeated conference champion has never missed out on the CFP.

“I understand that things have gotten sideways,” McElroy said. “I get that completely. But we’ve looked back over time. No one can tell me in 2014 that Florida State was among the four best teams. They weren’t, and they got absolutely boat raced by Oregon in the Playoff.

“No one can tell me the Michigan State in 2015 was one of the four best teams. No one can tell me in ’16 that Ohio State was one of the four best teams. They weren’t. They got in because they had one loss. Or, in some cases like Florida State’s, they were undefeated. … The committee’s not gonna do it.”