Kirby Smart empathizes with FSU for not making College Football Playoff

Florida State feels like it got snubbed by the College Football Playoff. However, the Seminoles aren’t alone, with Georgia and head coach Kirby Smart also confident that they belong in the Playoff.

Now, with Georgia and Florida State set to meet in the Orange Bowl, Smart shared that he empathizes with the position that the Seminoles are in with the Playoff.

“Yeah, I empathize with anybody that goes undefeated and doesn’t get in,” Kirby Smart said. “I empathize with our players because I personally feel like we deserve to be in. So, we’ve got a really good football team and we’re considered number one in the country all year and then fails. So, we’ve got a hornets’ nest around here too of some players who are disappointed too. So, that works both ways.”

Ultimately, for coaches like Kirby Smart, there is a lot that can be accomplished for the future during bowl season. However, motivation in the game can be an issue.

“The good news is we’ve got each other to go play and I know they’ll be up for us and we’ll be up for them. You worry a lot more when you have a matchup that they might not look as forward to. I don’t know who that would be because it shouldn’t be that way, but it is that way,” Smart said.

“I’ve learned that I also think it’s a time for coaches to grow their team, grow their roster, and grow their depth, and still get to play in a game. We’re going to have kids that didn’t play a lot during the year, they’re going to have an opportunity that we’re getting better at the end of the year that they’re going to have a chance to play because of the redshirt rule and things in post-season play. I’m excited about those opportunities.”

There’s no concern for Kirby Smart that both teams won’t be excited to play in the Orange Bowl. Both teams will have all the motivation in the world for the game.

“I know our kids are going to be up for FSU. I know FSU is going to be up for us. We’re going to rely on each other to have that, to be able to go out and play,” Smart said.

“Look, nobody knows better, I don’t know if this is correct, I think we’ve been fifth or sixth and finished fifth or sixth more than anybody. That’s tough. It’s tough. I can’t imagine it being undefeated. It’s tough when you finish fifth or sixth because there’s always a case for being in it. We’ve been there maybe two or three times.”

Paul Finebaum: Committee pushed Georgia to No. 6, made it about Alabama-FSU to ‘blame Jordan Travis’

Analyst Paul Finebaum believes that the committee used Jordan Travis‘ injury as a scapegoat, but that also meant that they needed to push Georgia down the line.

“Georgia’s better than Florida State. We don’t know really — I don’t know how Georgia went from No. 1 to No. 6. … These people in the committee room, they have to match. I think what they didn’t want was a debate about Georgia. So they just pushed Georgia as far away from No. 1 as they could, after one loss to by the way, the No. 4 team in the country. Then they made it an Alabama-FSU debate, so they could blame it all on Jordan Travis,” Finebaum said.

“I’m not saying it’s a great system. I don’t like it. I’ve been here a million times talking about the travesty of the way they do it. But thank goodness we won’t be going through this next year. So the sport is not dead, it’s quite healthy actually.”