Why was FSU Snubbed out of a Playoff Spot?

By: Jones DesChamps

In the midst of chaos during this college football season, the College Football Playoff Committee has caused uproar amongst loyal fans. As the final season of the four team playoff concludes, the committee has made its most controversial decision yet. By leaving an undefeated, power 5 conference champion out of the playoff picture, the committee has decided to exclude a flawless team from being crowned as one of the most deserving teams in the country. Although this point has been proven by the professional analysts as a proper decision, it is beyond evident that Florida State was cheated out of a chance at a national championship. 

To begin, throughout the history of the college football playoff, no undefeated power 5 conference champion has ever been left out. Not only that, but it is the committee’s job to put in the MOST DESERVING TEAMS, not the best four teams. If it’s their job to put in the most deserving teams, then how is a team that hasn’t lost a game left out of the playoffs. Not only that, Florida State has neutral or away wins against Clemson, Louisville, and LSU, all three of which are ranked wins. If you believe that it is the committee’s job to put the BEST four teams in the playoffs, then history does not side with your answer. In 2015, the committee allowed Michigan State into the playoffs, a team who was clearly not one of the best four teams in the country but made it in because they deserved it. The same thing has happened with Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and TCU throughout history, by allowing bad, yet deserving teams into the playoffs. So, it’s evident that the committee does not care about who’s better, but they care about who’s the most deserving. 

Secondly, a large reason that Florida State was eliminated from playoff contention was because of the season-ending injury that their star quarterback, Jordan Travis, suffered three weeks ago. Not only is it ridiculous to discipline a team for winning all of their games but punishing a team because of a player’s injury is unreasonable, too. It is completely outrageous to exclude an undefeated conference champion, who has won their last two games with a backup quarterback, from the playoffs. That quarterback, who apparently isn’t good enough, has gotten the job done. How is it appropriate to penalize a perfect team with over eighty scholarship players because of a wrong step taken by one of those players? Correct, it’s not appropriate. Yes, if injuries would have taken over a team, that’s one thing, but one player doesn’t lead a team to zero losses. Clearly, this team was cheated out of a chance to bring home a trophy. 

So, as it’s blatantly obvious, the College Football Playoff Committee failed in doing their job and has robbed a deserving team of a chance at history.