Paul Finebaum, Robert Griffin III debate Alabama vs. FSU for final College Football Playoff spot

The College Football Playoff has never had this many legitimate contenders to consider heading into Selection Sunday. Whether it’s Alabama, Florida State, Texas or Georgia — someone’s feelings are going to be hurt.

After the results of conference championship week, Alabama emerged with a win over No. 1 Georgia and Florida State is the undefeated ACC Champion.

Every scenario has been debated about which team goes where and why. To try and put a pin in the debate, Robert Griffin III and Paul Finebaum came together on SportsCenter Sunday morning in an attempt to figure out which team deserves that final spot.

“So the team that it needs to be, it’s Florida State, 100%,” Griffin said. “They’re the undefeated conference champion in the ACC. And for Paul, I just want him to understand that the ACC was 6-4 against the SEC this year in non-conference play, so they’ve already got that on top of them. The committee has never left out an undefeated Power Five conference champion. Last time I checked, Alabama loss — and they lost to Texas. So, if you put Texas in, you can’t put Alabama in front of them.

“Therefore Florida State should get in. This conversation about them not putting in Florida State because of Jordan Travis — you shouldn’t punish the other 100 guys on that team because they’re missing that one quarterback. The fact of the matter is Louisville was a top 20 offense, and they held them to six points and seven sacks. This team has earned the right to be in the College Football Playoff, but I don’t think that the committee should change the rules now for what they normally do just to help get an SEC team in.”

To Finebaum, there is only one real answer — the Crimson Tide coming off a win over the previously unbeatable Bulldogs.

“Robert, I respect all those points and I feel badly for Florida State playing without their star but when we start talking about ACC vs. SEC, it’s really a non starter,” Finebaum said. “One of those wins by the ACC was on September 9, Wake Forest over Vanderbilt. I’m not really sure that should be a stipulation when we’re trying to figure out the national championship. We know what Alabama has done — it’s self explanatory. They beaten the best team in the country, but we also know they lost the [Texas] game at home by 10.

“It was a tough loss, and it should cost against them. But it was on September 9 and it will be against a team that will very likely finish No. 3 in the rankings. So, Alabama has a win over number one going in. They’ll probably have a loss against No. 3 coming out. The SEC championship means a lot to me and the people in the south. That should not be an automatic but in this case, Alabama by far is one of the four best teams in the country. It would be absolutely shameful if this committee left them out.”

We will find out who is ultimately right when the selection committee reveals their final rankings live on ESPN at Noon ET.