Florida State, despite being undefeated and winning the ACC title, was left on the outside looking in for the College Football Playoff. SEC Champion Alabama jumped ahead of them for the fourth seed with their victory over Georgia.
Seminoles’ athletic director Michael Alford released a statement on the decision, calling the choice destructive with permanent consequences for the sport of college football.
“The argument of whether a team is the ‘most deserving OR best’ is a false equivalence,” Alford wrote. “It made the season up to yesterday irrelevant and significantly damages the legitimacy of the College Football Playoff.”
Alford pointed out how the Seminoles are the first undefeated Power 5 conference champion to ever not make the semifinals. He called the decision unforgivable.
“The fact that this team has continued to close out victories in dominant fashion facing our current quarterback situation should have ENHANCED our case to get a playoff berth EARNED on the field.”
“Wins matter. Losses matter,” Alford wrote. “Today, they changed the way success is assessed in college football, from a tangible metric – winning on the field – to an intangible, subjective one. Evidently, predicting the future matters more.”
Alford ended his statement by saying “the committee failed college football today.”
Florida State head coach Mike Norvell released a statement about the choice as well.
“I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today,” he wrote. “What is the point of playing the games? Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging non-conference games?”