It was easy to predict the widespread negative reaction.
With all deference to Sam Burns, Phillip Barbaree Jr. and David Toms – our active local pros — I’m not talking about the golf ball rollback. Even though that impending global decision could profoundly affect all of us hackers who make our rounds at Royal Querbes, Stonebridge, Southern Trace and the rest, today’s topic is a sport with a ball that never bounces predictably.
Thanks to Sunday morning’s College Football Playoffs announcement of the game’s Final Four, there are millions of madmen (and women, and children) up in arms about the omissions – unbeaten Florida State especially, but also two-time defending champ Georgia and once-barely-beaten Ohio State.
With only four slots to fill, there were always going to be teams left off the invitation list. In any limited field, the jilted ones don’t take it well.
Over in Dallas, the SMU Mustangs are stinging from undefeated but less-than-tested Liberty, a newly-minted Conference USA colleague of Louisiana Tech, getting the narrow nod as the Group of Five representative in the primetime bowl party, going to the Fiesta Bowl to face Bo Nix and the Oregon Ducks.
In fact, the first two questions on the CFP’s media zoom call Sunday with selection chairman Boo Corrigan focused on THAT hairsplitter before the Frustrated Seminoles United queries began.
Next year, the expansion to a 12-team CFP will resolve all these problems. Right. The 2024 Dynamic Dozen will include conference champs of the six highest-ranked champions, and the six next-highest ranked teams.
Bet your boots No. 13 will be upset. Maybe not as upset as Florida State AD Michael Alford.
“It renders the season up to yesterday irrelevant,” he said in a statement Sunday. “Wins matter. Losses matter …. Those on the committee who competed in the sport … have forgotten it. Today, they changed the way success is accessed in college football, from a tangible metric – winning on the field – to an intangible, subjective one.
“Evidently, predicting the future matters more.”
No, Mr. Alford – money does.
He’s right. Florida State did all it could to earn a spot. The Seminoles compare favorably to Alabama except in a few key aspects – conference affiliation, reputation, and healthy quarterbacks.
The prevalent belief is the Southeastern Conference is the big brother to all others, and certainly the Atlantic Coast Conference (let’s forget for a few moments that Clemson played in the ACC when it was winning and near-missing national titles not long ago, and that ACC members FSU and Miami are prime players in modern college football history).
The SEC isn’t all it’s cranked up to be. Not this year. Georgia has looked less than exceptional nearly all season. So has Bama, from its opening struggle past South Florida to its Iron Bowl miracle escape of Auburn. LSU fans can (some will) note that Florida State handled soon-to-be Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels and the Tigers more convincingly, a not-that-close 45-24 final, than the Crimson Tide held off visiting LSU even after Daniels was knocked out of the game (but not the Heisman chase) early in the fourth quarter of a 14-point Bama win.
Impossible to have a CFP without an SEC team? With the higher-ups doing the picking, yes. The ADs look at bottom dollar considerations. They live in their own stratosphere. The SEC is indeed the North Star for college sports, and it’s unwise to sting the status quo.
“In the eyes of the committee, Florida State is a different team without (injured quarterback) Jordan Travis,” said Corrigan. “One of the things we do consider is player availability.”
Yep, FSU isn’t as scary nowadays. That defense still is, but watching the ACC title game Saturday night was less than impressive. However, a week ago, Travis was out and the committee moved the Seminoles back into the top four.‘
It’s a little easier to stomach if you’re a Georgia or Ohio State supporter. Those teams had games they knew they had to win, and came up painfully short. Those Buckeye boosters can rightfully gripe that a Michigan touchdown pass was actually an Ohio State interception, but the scoreboard doesn’t account for tough breaks.
FSU never stared down a losing scoreboard. Still hasn’t. Bama was beaten solidly on its own field by Texas, which was beaten on a last-minute comeback by Oklahoma, which almost was whining about being left out of the New Year’s Day Six set of bowl games. The Sooners, last in at 12th, could have been No. 13 on a dance card with a dozen slots. LSU got that bridesmaid spot.
Is what happened to the ‘Noles fair? As fair as a wind gust that jumped up just as a perfectly struck golf shot, a rare thing in my experience, was tracking toward the flagstick.
I knew I pured it. I also knew it might not work out. It landed in the water. I’ll bet Sam, PBJ and David have their share of those regrets.
Now, so do the Seminoles. And they could not have done any better.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com