An Uncle Rico Production
In a historic move yesterday, the College Football Playoff Committee left out an undefeated conference champion from a Power 5 school for the very first time.
ACC Champions Florida State University (13-0, 8-0) were overlooked by the CFP Committee in favor of their two favored sons: Texas (Big12) & Alabama (SEC). Never before has a team with FSU’s record & in-season accomplishments been leap-frogged by a one-loss team, let alone two. In a move that many (not living in Austin, TX or Tuscaloosa, AL) are calling “unfathomable”, the CFP Committee awarded the two one-loss teams based solely on having better offenses.
Florida State recently suffered a tragic injury to their star quarterback Jordan Travis (on “Senior Night” of all horrible things), and as a result, they’ve been having to musical chairs with their QB1 position. Replacement QB Tate Rodemaker (RS-JR) filled in nicely for the injured Travis, going 13-23 for 217-yds & 2 TDS in a blow out win over North Alabama. The next week, his task was to help FSU beat Florida, in “The Swamp” for their annual rivalry game. Rodemaker was on his way to accomplishing that goal when fate would intervene, unknowingly derailing their path to a National Title.
Rodemaker was sliding to avoid contact from the defense after scrambling for a first down (a rule known as “a defenseless player giving themselves up”) when a Florida Gator defensive player misled into the unprotected quarterback. He sustained a concussion from the injury, forcing him to miss the rest of not only that game, but the ACC Conference Championship Game the following week.
Enter Redshirt Freshman QB Brock Glenn.
His task was simple: Go win us a conference championship after taking only four snaps all season; you have a week to prepare.
Needless to say, Glenn’s performance this past Saturday was the reason FSU did not make it into the CFP. While the Seminoles did defeat #14 Louisville & take home the ACC Crown, the 16-6 way that they did it clearly had the committee worried:
“Florida State is a different team than it was the first 11 weeks. As you look at who they are as a team right now, without Jordan Travis, without the offensive dynamic he brings, they are a different team and the committee voted Alabama four and Florida State five.”
That was the response from CFP Committee Czar Boo Corrigan (who I used to love, solely based on his first name) when questioned on his logic in making the devastating decision.
Yes, Florida State is a different team without Jordan Travis as their signal-caller. Yes, they would most-likely not be as effective as an offense. But to relinquish the opportunity for their world-class defense to write their own legend, essentially erasing the words from the pages, is an absolute travesty. To not give a team credit for having having an epic defense (who only reaffirmed this notion in their conference championship by keeping Louisville away from literally sniffing the endzone), while simultaneously dinging them for not putting up entertaining offensive stats, is such a joke that you almost have to laugh at their blatant bias to keep from getting enraged.
Now, let’s be clear. I do not have a dog in this fight. My Sun Devils & Irish left these convos long ago (for ASU, like Week 2 of the college football season).
But what I am is a fan of the game of football; the entirety of the game. Including defense.
To think, when coaching my football team that I would give away wins or penalize my team from further competition because our defense did awesome & our offense stunk would be a disservice to those boys, and to the game of football as a whole. I WOULD NEVER eliminate opportunities for more success after my team did everything that was asked of them.
Let me repeat:
I WOULD NEVER eliminate opportunities for those young men to achieve more success after MY TEAM (TEAM being the key word) did everything I asked of them.
Football is a TEAM sport, and just because one side of the ball is having less success than the other does not allow ANYONE to tell these young men that they are not winners. What the CFP did this past Sunday was grossly misrepresent the intentions of the game; you play to win the game. Period.
And FSU did.
Imagine if the Super Bowl XXXV Baltimore Ravens were told they could not participate in the playoffs because:
“Well, Trent Dilfer wasn’t the starter at the beginning of the season. Tony Banks was. And the offense just isn’t entertaining enough. Nevermind your historically immaculate defense. People don’t pay to watch defense.”
No, I am not saying that FSU’s defense is on-par with the 2000-2001 Ravens “D”. But, I’m also not saying they aren’t.
And that’s the point.
How are we to know what magic FSU could muster if we don’t give them the chance? I could see them being leap-frogged in the CFP rankings by one of the one-loss teams, but two!? It’s an absolute *bleepin* joke. What is even more disgusting is knowing that money was the overall driver for this decision. They just had to put an SEC team in, because how could the CFP exist without the SEC?
“How is the CFP to collect coinage on the southeastern demographic if Alabama &/or Georgia don’t get in?”
A fly on the wall inside the CFP war room told me that last quote, so you’ll have to check the sources.
The fact of the matter is “no”, maybe they don’t clean-up financially with southeast revenue from the games, but “yes” the CFP would’ve survived financially. In doing so, they would’ve also given a nod to every man, woman, & child who loves the game, lives the game, & breathes the game; anything is possible with sports. So what if your back’s against the wall. You’re never out of it, as long as you have hope.
Well, the CFP just killed hope at the beginning of the Christmas Season; a season LITERALLY DEDICATED TO HOPE & anything being possible.
So shame on you, College Football Playoff Committee.
Shame on you for shatting on the dreams of the FSU faithful, and the believers of what sport can accomplish.
