Florida State went undefeated and was told that wasn't enough because the CFP system was designed to fail

They really did it. 

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee evaluated the entire 2023 season and landed on a four-team field of Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama. 

Florida State, an undefeated Power 5 champion with one of nastiest defenses in the country but without star quarterback Jordan Travis for the rest of the season, was left out. 

Cue the cries for “games don’t matter” and “a dark day for college football.” The Seminoles — the players, the coaches, the support staffers, on down — were absolutely hosed. Something is clearly corrupt in a system where the star quarterback tweets he wished he had broken his leg sooner so that his team could’ve received a fair shake. 

devastated. heartbroken. 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!

— Jordan Travis (@jordantrav13) December 3, 2023

But the issue with the “results matter until they don’t” crowd is that the committee was destined to fail someone eventually. It simply hadn’t happened yet. 

It’s almost like holding a four-team playoff with five Power conferences was a bad idea from its genesis, huh.

For a decade now, the committee has been able to avoid hard decisions. It’s always been a subjective process where opinions and facts are muddled as one. They’ve always been able to do what they wanted, but the results have played themselves out where the choices had essentially been made for them. 

They put Cincinnati in the playoff even though everyone knew the Bearcats would get waxed by Alabama. TCU wasn’t one of the best four teams last season, but the Horned Frogs “earned it” because we could even find four capable teams. 

But this year was different. A lack of chaos all season finally put the committee in a blender. The committee was ripe to be exposed for their arbitrary arguments that oftentimes made no sense from one week to the next.

As we inched closer to a reality where a Power 5 champion could run the table and get left out, the committee spent the last few weeks repeating its job of picking the “best teams.”

That hadn’t been what they’d done before, though. It’s always been their charge, but not their actions. They hadn’t actually selected the four-team field off power ratings. 

Until today. 

“Most deserving is not anything in the committee’s lexicon,” CFP director Bill Hancock said with a straight face just last week. 

“They are to rank the best teams in order, and that’s what they do. Just keep that word in mind. ‘Best’ teams.”

And then they actually did it. 

Watch Michigan’s reaction to the announcement that the Wolverines will play Alabama — and not Florida State — in the Rose Bowl.

Michigan reacts to Alabama being selected at No. 4. Wolverines and Crimson Tide in the CFP semi. pic.twitter.com/V2mrgLQA3W

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 3, 2023

As currently constituted, the Crimson Tide are probably a better team than the Seminoles. 

I say “probably” because we don’t actually know. Again, that’s what the games are for. Until today. It certainly isn’t “fair” for a team that won all its games and was told that still wasn’t enough. And yet, I understand the committee’s decision. That doesn’t make it right, though. It just further exposes the lunacy of the entire system and process.  

College football has always had a beauty pageant element to it. For years, the sport crowned its champions in absurd fashion, allowing schools to simply claim titles. Later, we settled on computers to pick who should and shouldn’t compete for the crown. And now we have 13 people with varying agendas determining teams’ fates. TV execs and administrators in fancy suits now decide the outcome of the sport. 

It took a decade, but the current system was finally exposed for its cruelty and absurdity. 

“Florida State is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks,” CFP committee chair and North Carolina State athletic director Boo Corrigan said on the broadcast Sunday. 

“An incredible season, but if you look at who they are as a team right now, without Jordan Travis, without the offensive dynamic that he brings to it, they are a different team.”

Florida State is undefeated, but the ‘Noles lost on Sunday because over a decade ago the powers that run college football stupidly settled on a system that protected the pearl-clutching bowl games. 

We could’ve had a six-team field instead of four from the beginning, but didn’t. We should’ve had a 12-team playoff this season if not for conference realignment and the dumb “Alliance,” but don’t. 

The College Football Playoff will be a fantastic watch for fans. It will deliver highly entertaining games and it features some awesome matchups. But that’s ignoring the forest for the trees right now. 

The system sucks, and today, Florida State got screwed because of it.