The Florida State Seminoles wrapped up an undefeated season with a 16-6 win over the Louisville Cardinals Saturday night. Despite the Seminoles being down to their 3rd string quarterback, FSU was able to remain perfect in the win column. In a normal year this would be a lock for the College Football Playoff however, this season isn’t normal and the Seminoles were snubbed out of the playoffs. There were six strong teams competing for four spots and the committee ultimately decided a healthy SEC champion was the better team over the undefeated ACC champion.
With so many contenders for the four playoff spots entering the final week of the season, many pundits in the national media have pushed a narrative that an undefeated Florida State should be left out of the playoff. Yes Florida State is missing their best player, Jordan Travis, but they’ve found ways to win in the two games without him. Ultimately, and sadly, the committee used the injury to say that FSU wasn’t one of the four best teams.
The perception of the ACC may not be the best, but here are some facts. The ACC went 6-4 against the SEC this season. Entering the final CFP rankings before Selection Sunday, the ACC has the same amount of teams ranked (4) as the Big 10 and the Big 12. FSU, with it’s win over Louisville, will have just as many wins vs current CFP top 25 teams (3) as Michigan and Texas.
It didn’t help the ACC that Clemson had a down year for their recent standards, North Carolina faded at the end of the season, Duke wasn’t the same after Riley Leonard’s injury after being ranked, and Miami had some tough defeats as well. The committee had a tough decision to make and someone deserving was going to be left out. Leaving out an undefeated Power 5 team has to be a punch in the gut for the ACC – a league that has to fight so hard to garner any respect nationally already.