Paul Finebaum says 'it's about time' Washington jumped Florida State in CFP rankings

The latest College Football Playoff rankings made one switch that SEC Network host Paul Finebaum agrees with in moving Washington over Florida State for that No. 4 spot.

While some fans may point to Florida State losing star QB Jordan Travis to injury that caused the drop, Finebaum thinks the main reason for the move is better and more consistent play from the Huskies of late.

“I’m great with that, and I think it’s about time,” Finebaum said of the UW-FSU switcharoo on ESPN’s First Take Wednesday morning. “And it’s not because of the Jordan Travis injury at Florida State,” he added. “It’s the fact that Washington has finally started really clicking. I mean, they were up-and-down, but remember, they had that win over Oregon.”

Oregon is obviously a tremendous win since the Ducks are otherwise 10-0 and appear to be on a collision course with Washington for a rematch in the Pac-12 title game. So that win is likely the difference in Paul’s eyes. But he won’t deny that the injury to Travis weighed on the committee at least a little bit.

“I think — even tough the committee said it had nothing to do with Jordan Travis — I think it could have played a role,” said Finebaum, touting Travis as a once-in-a-decade type of talent that has resurrected the Seminoles after a troubling end to the 2010s.

“Jordan Travis is a generational player. He has helped bring Florida State back from the dead after two failed coaching moves, and he’s gone for the season.”

Whether or not to include an undefeated FSU team that doesn’t have Travis is a question for down the road. Right now, Finebaum looks at the games directly ahead that Florida State needs to win with their backup in order to remain in the picture.

“They go to Florida Saturday night, guys, they should win that game. Then they have Louisville. But they need to do more than win,” says Finebaum, thanks to the lack of quality wins that were available in the ACC this season.

He just doesn’t think FSU wins, even if they take care of Louisville and Florida, could top what some of these other teams have in terms of strength of record.

“I know a lot of people are saying, ‘well, if they’re a champion of a power five conference…’ So what? We are talking about the weakest power five conference in the ACC. Their wins are against… LSU, a three-loss team; Clemson, a four-loss team; and then Louisville would be their best win, a one-loss team that had a nasty loss to Pittsburgh. I’m still not buying it, especially if we get to a situation where you have a one-loss Georgia team to Alabama, or a one-loss Alabama team having beaten Georgia, Texas, you have a lot of variables that could create a great deal of chaos.”

Of course, there’s still an opportunity for these contenders to cannibalize themselves, especially during championship weekend. However, it is scary for FSU fans to think they really could win out and still not make the CFP. At least Paul Finebaum believes it’s a possibility.