Joey Galloway picks Florida State over Washington as more likely to make College Football Playoff
The ESPN College Football Playoff reveal show is less than a week away. Lately, ESPN’s team of experts has been working through tough and challenging questions throughout the college football landscape to prepare for their kickoff show.
Recently, in a segment titled ‘This or That,’ some of the experts had to weigh in on possible scenarios for this year’s College Football Playoff. Former Ohio State star Joey Galloway was challenged with answering the question, ‘Which is more likely: Florida State or Washington makes their second trip to the College Football Playoff?’
“So if I’m looking at this, and I always look at what’s remaining on people’s schedules to get there; Florida State’s remaining schedule, probably the toughest team, is an inconsistent Miami team,” said Galloway. “And then, when they get to the ACC Championship game, they’ll have either a Louisville or maybe a North Carolina team that we just saw lose.”
As Galloway pointed out, the ACC is not as competitive as the Pac-12 this season. This season, the Pac-12 has had the most teams ranked in the AP top 25, capped off with eight teams ranked in Week 3 of the rankings. The ACC, on the other hand, has seen better days. Powerhouse Clemson is having a down season, by their standards, sitting at 4-3. Miami and UNC have both found themselves on the wrong side of upsets this season, and Louisville dropped out of the undefeated ranks following a loss to Pitt.
When making his assessment, Galloway is looking at the path that remains for both teams. The course Washington has in front of them still consists of three programs ranked in the top 25 and that does not even include whoever they may face if they make it to the Pac-12 title game.
“So I think Florida State absolutely has the better chance because Washington, although maybe the better team right now, has USC, Utah, Oregon State. If they get to the Pac-12 championship undefeated, they might see Oregon again. Their road is brutal to get there. So I’m gonna go with Florida State with the way Jordan Travis is playing with that team right now; they look confident. I think Florida State is the team that gets in.”
Both Washington and Florida State have elite offenses led by Heisman Trophy candidates Michael Penix Jr. and Jordan Travis. Both stand a strong chance of making the College Football Playoff. However, in this situation, Galloway could only pick one. And given the remaining strength of schedule for Florida State, according to the college football expert, it is far more likely that the Seminoles make the championship tournament and the Huskies sit this one out.