Still at the heart of the College Football Playoff controversy is a team that started its third-team quarterback, had offensive struggles, and won by double digits. Yes, Alabama had a difficult time on September 16 versus South Florida.
After Texas thoroughly outplayed the Crimson Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium the week before, the team decided to bench quarterback Jalen Milroe. Alternatively, Nick Saban played Tyler Buchner and Ty Simpson. It went badly and appeared considerably worse. Still, a victory is a victory, right?
It is not the time to ask Florida State that question. It could punch you. FSU became the first unbeaten Power Five conference champion to be eliminated from the playoffs, a move that some have justifiably called a crime against (football) nature. Everything depended on the timing. The CFP Selection Committee made a deliberate decision to overlook the fact that FSU played with a third-string quarterback on Saturday, struggled offensively, and prevailed by a large margin.
The Seminoles’ decision to forgo competing for a national championship was the deciding factor, and the effects of that choice will last for some time.
Given that the SEC and Big Ten will have more opportunities as a result of the expanded postseason, FSU’s desperation to leave the ACC may increase. It might alter how injuries are reported. Is it really worth telling the truth about a player’s current situation going forward? For the previous two weeks, Mike Norvell would have been better suited designating quarterback Jordan Travis as a game-time decision. Alabama decided to accept a weak Milroe. FSU was left with no option.
And the final “0” in FSU’s record? It seems that is irrelevant. Part of the indignation stems from the fact that it didn’t in the most recent CFP including four teams. The sense of entitlement has occasionally been used as a criticism of SEC groupthink over the years by outside (i.e., impartial) observers. Down in the South, it seems like everyone else is playing golf with a frisbee instead of actual football.
That’s acceptable if Alabama is being compared to Liberty or Cincinnati. This was Florida State, who had won every game and had a history of winning national championships. Only four teams achieved this feat. Along the way, it defeated two SEC opponents and boasted a top-15 defense.
Would Alabama have received the same treatment if it had been unbeaten and needed two backup quarterbacks to get to the end? Naturally, no. Is this a legitimate playoff without FSU? was the first question raised by the committee’s own groupthink.
Based on past performance, tradition, and history, the answer is “no.” But two things can both be true simultaneously.
It was unfair, a travesty, and abhorrent to leave FSU out. Having said that, the upcoming games could produce the greatest CFP semifinals in the four-team field’s ten-year history.
Sports betting news website SBA thinks they got it right. Company President Scott Morris had this to say: “Look, we all know that FSU isn’t the same team without their starting QB. Let’s not kid ourselves. In the end, I think the committee got it right. Next year we won’t have to worry about such drama.”
