Paul Finebaum: Florida State doesn't belong in the College Football Playoff without Jordan Travis
The sweet taste of victory was overpowered by the devastating leg injury suffered by Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis on Saturday in Tallahassee, who was carted off the field in the first quarter as his season comes to an end for the Seminoles.
Travis’ long-term impact on FSU is immeasurable, improving every single year as the team’s starter with the team’s record improving along with him highlighted by the Seminoles’ current 11-0 record. But in the short-term, Florida State is currently ranked No. 4 in the College Football Playoff rankings and is now without its most important player.
ESPN’s Matt Barrie and Paul Finebaum recently discussed the Seminoles’ College Football Playoff future following Travis’ injury, with Barrie asking if they’re still one of the top four teams in the country without Jordan Travis.
“I’m telling you right now they’re not one of the four best teams in the country and I don’t care what everyone says,” Finebaum said. “Things change and right now we’re still looking at an imperfect masterpiece.”
“Two weeks from now there won’t be any more debate and we’ll just start measuring them up against a lot of other schools, and I’m not jumping the gun here, I’m just saying they don’t belong without Jordan Travis. I mean he’s the singular reason why Mike Norvell brought this program back from the dead and that cannot be discounted.”
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee can account for injury in their rankings, which ESPN’s Heather Dinich has discussed from her experience in the selection committee meetings. That paired with the importance of Travis to Florida State’s success and the potential amount elite one-loss teams makes Finebaum believe that the Seminoles’ playoff hopes could be done for.
“And we’re gonna end up getting another mismatch somewhere along the way because I mean we’re talking about heavyweights, and you’re gonna leave Georgia home if Alabama wins that game on a field goal? Even the Michigan–Ohio State loser I think, which I would not have said earlier, I think is going to have something to say and that’s not all. I mean there are some other ones, Texas is assuming it got squeezed,” Finebaum explained. “I don’t like their chances at all, and I respect Heather like you do, she knows more about the mindset and I think that mindset is going to change two weeks from now.”
Travis’ impact is undeniable recording 8,714 career passing yards, 1,950 rushing yards, and 97 total touchdowns prior to his injury on Saturday.
It will be interesting to see how Florida State performs without him to close out the season, and potentially even more interesting to see how the College Football Playoff Committee navigates their ranking given their new, unfortunate circumstances.