‘Disgusted, infuriated’: 13-0 FSU snubbed by CFP
While 4 groups are commemorating the opportunity to bet a national title on the field, unbeaten ACC champion Florida State is on the outdoors, with coach Mike Norvell saying he’s “disgusted and irritated” with the Seminoles becoming the first unbeaten Power 5 conference winner to ever miss out on the College Football Playoff.
“I am disgusted and exasperated with the committee’s choice today to have what was earned on the field removed due to the fact that a little group of people chose they knew better than the results of the games,” Norvell said in a statement. “What is the point of playing games? Do you inform players it is okay to give up if somebody decreases? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for worry of injury? Where is the motivation to arrange challenging nonconference games?
“We are not just an unbeaten P5 conference champion, however we also played two P5 non-conference games away from home and won both of them. I do not comprehend how we are expected to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team. … What took place today breaks everything that holds true and right in college football.”
Included ACC commissioner Jim Phillips: “It’s unfathomable.”
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While Michigan (13-0, Big Ten champion), Washington (13-0, Pac-12 champ), Texas (12-1, Big 12 champion) and Alabama (12-1, SEC champion) were the leading 4 teams who made it into the playoff, the Seminoles (13-0) were judged by an unforeseen run of injuries at the quarterback position.
“Florida State is a different group than it was the very first 11 weeks,” CFP choice committee chairman Boo Corrigan informed ESPN. “As you look at who they are as a group today, without Jordan Travis, without the offensive vibrant he brings, they are a different team and the committee voted Alabama four and Florida State five.”
Travis, the ACC Gamer of the Year, suffered a season-ending damaged leg against North Alabama in mid-November. Backup Tate Rodemaker suffered a concussion late in the Seminoles’ regular-season finale victory at Florida, leading to real freshman Brock Glenn, the third-stringer, starting in the ACC title game– a triumph against Louisville.
“I want my leg broke earlier in the season so y’ all might see this group is a lot more than the quarterback,” Travis published to X (previously Twitter) on Sunday.devastated.
sad. In so much shock rn, I want my leg broke earlier in the season so y’ all might see this group is a lot more than the quarterback. I believed results matter. 13-0 and this roster compares across any team in those leading 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!
— Jordan Travis (@jordantrav13) December 3, 2023
Florida State, as the No. 5 seed, will face the two-time protecting national champion Georgia Bulldogs (No. 6) in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Dec. 30.
“The consequences of succumbing to a narrative of the moment are damaging, far reaching, and irreversible. Not simply for Florida State, however college football as an entire,” FSU athletic director Michael Alford said in a statement. “The argument of whether a group is the ‘most deserving OR finest’ is a false equivalence. It renders the season approximately the other day irrelevant and considerably damages the authenticity of the College Football Playoff.
“… The committee stopped working college football today.”
The FSU defense has been stellar since Travis got injured. Over the past two games, the Florida State defense has a combined 13 sacks– and held its previous 2 opponents to no or negative lawns in the 4th quarter.
“The 2023 Florida State Seminoles are the epitome of an overall TEAM,” Alford stated in his statement. “To eliminate them from a possibility to compete for a championship game is a baseless injustice that reveals complete neglect and disrespect for their efficiency and achievements. It is unforgiveable.
“The reality that this team has actually continued to close out victories in dominant fashion facing our existing quarterback scenario must have improved our case to get a playoff berth made on the field. Instead, the committee decided to elevate themselves and ‘make history’ today by leaving from what makes this sport great by excluding an unbeaten Power 5 conference champ for the first time since the arrival of the BCS/CFP period that began 25 years back. This ridiculous choice is a departure from the competitive expectations that have stood the test of time in college football.”
Florida State was No. 4 in the previous CFP rankings and, prior to Sunday’s selections, no team ranked outside the top 6 of the second-to-last CFP rankings had actually ever delved into the final four. Alabama and Texas both achieved that accomplishment Sunday.
” [FSU’s] exclusion calls into question the selection procedure and whether the Committee’s own standards were followed, consisting of the considerable importance of being an unbeaten Power Five conference champ,” Phillips said in his statement. “My heart breaks for the talented FSU student-athletes and coaches and their enthusiastic and loyal fans.
“Florida State should have much better. College football was worthy of better.”
Alford vehemently rejected that the team’s quarterback situation need to even matter, offered the Seminoles continued to win.
“Wins matter. Losses matter. Those that complete in the arena understand this,” Alford stated. “Those on the committee who also contended in the sport and must have understood this have actually forgotten it. Today, they altered the way success is assessed in college football, from a tangible metric– winning on the field– to an intangible, subjective one. Obviously, predicting the future matters more.
“For a lot of us, today’s decision by the committee has permanently harmed the trustworthiness of the institution that is the College Football Playoff. And, saddest of all, it was self-inflicted. They selected predictive competitiveness over proven efficiency; subjectivity over truth. They have become a committee of prognosticators. They have actually deserted their duty by discarding their purpose– to evaluate efficiency on the field.”
Norvell stated the Seminoles got rid of difficulty by continuing to win regardless of the injuries at quarterback.
“I’m harming for our players who have displayed a significant amount of strength and reaction this season,” Norvell said. “… A group that conquered remarkable hardship and discovered a way to win doing whatever it handled the field was cheated today. It’s a sad day for college football.”
The coach enjoyed the selection program with his team on Sunday afternoon, and Norvell’s head dropped in dissatisfaction as he learned the Seminoles’ fate.
“That’s one of the tougher minutes I have actually ever needed to experience,” Norvell stated. “For all that they have actually done, you speak with a team about reacting to misfortune, getting up and going to get all that you can to discover a way to win a college football game. It’s hard to do.
“Especially when you have actually dealt with a few of the misfortunes that we have actually had this year, whether it’s injury or various things that have actually come, it’s all part of it. As we inform our team all the time, your truest identity shows up in times of terrific difficulty. And we’ve faced it, and they have actually put it on display. So that was actually that feeling in the minute.”
Florida State’s exemption from the College Football Playoff was felt throughout the sport.Asked if he might imagine going 13-0 and not making the field, Washington coach Kalen DeBoer stated simply:”In all honesty, no. “”You go undefeated and
miss it by one spot, makes me feel sympathy for those guys, “Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford stated.”Just like us, they put in the exact same amount of work in the offseason. They fought just as tough throughout the season. They’re still players. They’ve still got a program. It’s simply a tough scenario to be in. “Both Norvell and Georgia coach Kirby Smart said their groups will put the disappointment behind them and will be prepared for their Orange Bowl match versus each other.Georgia’s pursuit of a third straight national championship was
thwarted by one ill-timed loss. The Bulldogs(12-1) had actually won 29 straight games, but Saturday’s loss to Alabama in the SEC title game left Georgia on the outdoors searching in. As a result, the Bulldogs end up being the first No. 1 group in the penultimate CFP rankings to fall out of the leading four after losing on Champion Weekend.The only others to go from No. 1 at any point to completely out at the end were Tennessee(one week in 2022) and Mississippi State(three weeks in 2014 ). The SEC champ has actually never ever been excluded of the College Football Playoff. Alabama, which is in for the
eighth time, kept that streak alive.The SEC has won the previous four national championships(Georgia twice, Alabama and LSU), and 6 of the nine titles overall during the CFP period. Twice, 2 SEC groups have actually bet the championship: Alabama beat Georgia for the 2017 title, and Georgia topped Alabama for the 2021 title.ESPN’s Andrea Adelson and The Associated Press added to this report.