By Kyle Golik
As ESPN unveiled the four teams to make the 2023-24 College Football Playoff, the first stunner was Texas coming in at No. 3. With Washington and Michigan occupying the top two spots, a sense of uneasiness began to set in. The question that has been asked ever since Florida State defeated Louisville 16-6 in the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte was, would the College Football Playoff Committee deny an undefeated Power 5 champion for the first time?
The answer is yes.
When it was revealed the once defeated SEC Champion Alabama Crimson Tide were the Committee’s No. 4 team, you could hear the war chants of anger and frustration permeate from Tallahassee.
The footage of FSU's reaction is just heartbreaking. Jordan Travis right there in the center. Imagine being him, your team got left out bc you got injured.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 3, 2023
As ESPN’s Rece Davis began to ask the hard questions to College Football Playoff Committee chairman Boo Corrigan, Corrigan emphasized that Florida State was a different team without star quarterback Jordan Travis, who suffered a lower leg injury against North Alabama, with the committee emphasizing the four best teams.
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As Davis began to poke Corrigan with particulars and details, Corrigan played a savvy politician giving very prepared answers and what details the committee went through was limited. He did reveal there were two sessions of deliberations and the Committee debated each position 1 through 6. Though when Davis began to inquire what former players and coaches on the Committee thought of Florida State’s undefeated season, Corrigan glossed over that fact and went to the “Travis injury” as his answer.
A question I would have asked Corrigan was, what consideration did the Committee take for Florida State being able to find a way to win with both a second and third-string quarterback, coming together as a team, and beat a Top 15 team with a defense and ground game to win a championship. Not all wins have to be pretty, winning ugly is the same as winning pretty, and finding a way to win vs a good team is huge.
Nothing was more heartbreaking when ESPN showed the Florida State viewing party the reactions of hurt and anger by the Seminoles.
FSU’s reaction to being left out of the College Football Playoff
pic.twitter.com/Trf7hgWosd— PFF (@PFF) December 3, 2023
I cannot imagine being Jordan Travis today, hearing people deny your teammates, your team who did everything right because you got hurt.
When Travis went on Twitter (or X), and said he wished he broke his leg sooner for his team, that is heartbreaking.
devastated. heartbroken. In so much disbelief rn, I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!
— Jordan Travis (@jordantrav13) December 3, 2023
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips released a statement following the news:
“It’s unfathomable that Florida State, an undefeated Power Five conference champion, was left out of the College Football Playoff,” Phillips said. “Their exclusion calls into question the selection process and whether the Committee’s own guidelines were followed, including the significant importance of being an undefeated Power Five conference champion. My heart breaks for the talented FSU student-athletes and coaches and their passionate and loyal fans. Florida State deserved better. College football deserved better.”
In addition, Florida State Vice President and Athletic Director Michael Alford voiced his opinon on the snub:
Statement from Michael Alford, Vice President and Athletics Director, Florida State University
"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…
— Barrett Sallee 🇺🇸 (@BarrettSallee) December 3, 2023
To conclude the firey Seminole statements, Mike Norvell stated this:
Absolute fire from Mike Norvell. He is 100 percent right pic.twitter.com/soMDH0g5dV
— Andrea Adelson (@aadelsonESPN) December 3, 2023
I fully understand the impact of the Travis injury, and it was unfortunate backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker suffered a concussion against rival Florida and still had symptoms ahead of Louisville and couldn’t play.
That win against Louisville was a character win like I have seen. How many teams could win a Top 15 matchup with a freshman quarterback who had no experience and ride their ground game and defense to a win? I bet very few.
Florida State did something as a team, they overcame adversity at every turn, and every opponent on the field they defeated and were unconquered.
They earned it where they were supposed to, they needed no justification of being the “four best” because they achieved being the best. No offense to Texas and Alabama, they might be better teams right now, but they needed an excuse to be ahead of Florida State.
It is unfortunate, they only “team” to conquer Florida State, were a 13 person group of administrators eating continental breakfasts at a five-star hotel and conference room that the Seminoles couldn’t line up against. Like Phillips, Alford, and Norvell said, Florida State deserved better and so did college football.
