Kirk Herbstreit believes College Football Playoff committee was right to leave out Florida State

Florida State is the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to miss the College Football Playoff. It was a controversial decision that ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit broke down in the immediate aftermath.

During the College Football Playoff Selection Show, Herbstreit emphasized the drop-off in quarterback play between Florida State’s starter Jordan Travis and his backup quarterbacks.

“I think if Tate [Rodemaker] went out and lit it up, it would be a lot like what Cardale Jones did for Ohio State,” Kirk Herbstreit. “I think the committee evaluated based on what they saw.”

Herbstreit also emphasized that what Florida State has done is impressive, including after Travis went down with his injury. However, he pointed to the injury as being the justification to keep the Seminoles out of the Playoff and that this problem would not have been unique to Florida State if it happened to someone else too.

“And by the way, what Florida State did at the Swamp was impressive. I called that game. That was a tough environment. I don’t care what Florida‘s record was, that game was impressive for them to be able to get out of that game with a backup quarterback, but when you’re looking at what they did the last two games and you’re evaluating it all the way to the third guy, a freshman, this is nothing against Mike Norvell. I think we’re all proud and so happy to see that Florida State brand back from where it was three, four, five years ago to where it is now. It has sustainability and it’s gonna be around with Mike and they’re gonna do a great job,” Herbstreit said.

“To me, if you took JJ McCarthy off of Michigan, we’d be saying the same thing right now about Michigan. If you took Michael Penix off of Washington the last two games and they were struggling with a backup quarterback, we wouldn’t be looking at the totality of Washington’s season. We’d be looking at the last two games.”

Ultimately, even though Florida State kept winning, Kirk Herbstreit explained they were a different team without him and that cost them the Playoff spot in comparison to Alabama.

“You have to look at the last couple games without the heart and soul. This guy is the face of this resurgence of Florida State, Jordan Travis, and to take him out is just as big as any player in the country that you would take off that roster. So, to me, it’s a reflection of what he meant to that team specifically and these last two weeks giving Tate and Brock [Glenn] the third string guy an opportunity, and it’s just a reality,” Herbstreit said.

“You’re comparing Alabama to Florida State. You’ve got to give Alabama the nod, even though they had a close game against Auburn in a rivalry game. They beat Georgia in a neutral site and Georgia was the team, and Alabama just beat them. You can not take Alabama out of this. They have to be in, and I think the committee did a great job.”

Jordan Travis ‘heartbroken’ over Florida State College Football Playoff Snub

Shortly after it was announced that Florida State would miss the College Football Playoff, quarterback Jordan Travis posted a heartfelt note to social media.

“devastated. heartbroken,” Travis wrote. “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!”