Unbelievable! Undefeated Florida State left out of College Football Playoff

CHARLOTTE — The Florida State Seminoles are 13-0 and won the ACC Championship despite playing with a third-string quarterback.

And yet the Seminoles won’t get the opportunity to compete for a national championship.

On Sunday afternoon, mere hours after wrapping up the ACC title with a suffocating 16-6 win over Louisville, the ‘Noles were not selected as one of four teams to compete in this year’s College Football Playoff. They were ranked No. 5.

The four teams to make it in are No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Alabama.

Before this year, the CFP Selection Committee had never kept an undefeated Power 5 champion out of the playoff. Florida State is the first and only. The Seminoles were ranked No. 4 coming into this weekend.

The Seminoles apparently were left out due to the season-ending injury to QB Jordan Travis. Immediately after that injury, Florida State had to beat rival Florida at The Swamp with backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker taking the snaps.

Then, on Saturday, Rodemaker was sidelined with a concussion and true freshman Brock Glenn had to play quarterback for the Seminoles. In an ACC Championship Game. With a perfect season and playoff berth on the line.

Florida State won anyway. Because the Florida State defense, like it has been all season but even more so the past two weeks, was sensational.

The Seminoles held a Louisville offense that had scored at least 30 points in eight games this season to just two field goals. They sacked quarterback Jack Plummer seven times. They had 14 tackles for loss.

After Sunday’s announcement was made, Florida State athletics director Michael Alford released the following statement:

“The consequences of giving in to a narrative of the moment are destructive, far reaching, and permanent. Not just for Florida State, but college football as a whole.”

“The argument of whether a team is the ‘most deserving OR best’ is a false equivalence. It renders the season up to yesterday irrelevant and significantly damages the legitimacy of the College Football Playoff. The 2023 Florida State Seminoles are the epitome of a total TEAM. To eliminate them from a chance to compete for a national championship is an unwarranted injustice that shows complete disregard and disrespect for their performance and accomplishments. It is unforgiveable.”

“The fact that this team has continued to close out victories in dominant fashion facing our current quarterback situation should have ENHANCED our case to get a playoff berth EARNED on the field. Instead, the committee decided to elevate themselves and ‘make history’ today by departing from what makes this sport great by excluding an undefeated Power 5 conference champion for the first time since the advent of the BCS/CFP era that began 25 years ago. This ridiculous decision is a departure from the competitive expectations that have stood the test of time in college football.”

“Wins matter. Losses matter. Those that compete in the arena know this. Those on the committee who also competed in the sport and should have known this have forgotten it. Today, they changed the way success is assessed in college football, from a tangible metric – winning on the field – to an intangible, subjective one. Evidently, predicting the future matters more.”

“For many of us, today’s decision by the committee has forever damaged the credibility of the institution that is the College Football Playoff. And, saddest of all, it was self-inflicted. They chose predictive competitiveness over proven performance; subjectivity over fact. They have become a committee of prognosticators. They have abandoned their responsibility by discarding their purpose – to evaluate performance on the field.”

“Our players, coaches, and fans – as well as all those who love this sport – deserve better. The committee failed college football today.”

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