Post by GatorGrad on Dec 6, 2023 19:06:42 GMT
I see a lot of folks blaming the committee and ESPN for leaving FSU out of the CFP. But the anger is misdirected. The 13 members on the committee did not make the rules which were flawed from day one, nor did they delay the 12-team playoff like the ACC helped to do. The truth is there are other factors that led to this. In no particular order:
1) Criteria should not have ever used a phrase like "best team." That is 100% subjective. At the very least, the emphasis should have been on resume more like the basketball tournament. Or in the best case scenario, objective rules as our friend CJ has been saying for years on this board with no human committee necessary.
2) Criteria should have never ever included anything about consideration for a team with an injured player. How ridiculous. I can't think of any other sport where this is a thing. If the New England Patriots went 16-0 one season but Tom Brady got injured in the final game, they are still going to be the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
3) Just like the two-team playoff in the BCS era was doomed to fail a power conference unbeaten (see Auburn 2004), a four-team playoff was also likely to malfunction at some point given there were five power conferences plus Notre Dame competing for four spots. So then expand the playoff, right? Well...
4) ESPN and the P5 conferences had agreed in 2021 to expand to the 12-team playoff and to have it in place by this 2023 season. After the SEC added UT and OU, the ACC/PAC/B1G announced "The Alliance" for reasons known only to them and put a halt on the expanded playoff. Soon after, the B1G raided the killed off the PAC, the B1G commish left, and everyone came to their senses and approved the 12-team playoff...but now it couldn't be implemented until 2024. Now we have the ACC Commish Phillips complaining about his conference champ being excluded from the four-team playoff? Maybe he should be held accountable for that very poor short-sighted decision which ultimately cost FSU and his conference a chance to compete in a playoff this year not to mention the revenue that comes with it. FSU should have grounds to terminate their GOR and leave the ACC immediately over this and many other issues.
It's not like this scenario of ranking a one-loss team over an unbeaten has never happened before. In fact in 1993, FSU won their first ever National Championship by benefitting from a scenario like this. FSU was 11-1 but ranked #1 heading into the bowls ahead of 11-0 Nebraska, 11-0 West Virginia, and 11-0 Auburn. Also ahead of 10-1 Notre Dame who had beaten FSU head to head! However FSU got to play in the designated MNC Bowl Game vs Nebraska while West Virginia and Notre Dame did not have a chance. The idiocy of this sport hurt FSU in 2023 but no doubt benefitted them in 1993.
The system has always been flawed. Any system where a team can go UNDEFEATED and not have a chance to compete for the championship is flawed. Every team deserves to play until you lose IMO. What happened to FSU was unfortunate but I'm not sure why we are so surprised?
1) Criteria should not have ever used a phrase like "best team." That is 100% subjective. At the very least, the emphasis should have been on resume more like the basketball tournament. Or in the best case scenario, objective rules as our friend CJ has been saying for years on this board with no human committee necessary.
2) Criteria should have never ever included anything about consideration for a team with an injured player. How ridiculous. I can't think of any other sport where this is a thing. If the New England Patriots went 16-0 one season but Tom Brady got injured in the final game, they are still going to be the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs.
3) Just like the two-team playoff in the BCS era was doomed to fail a power conference unbeaten (see Auburn 2004), a four-team playoff was also likely to malfunction at some point given there were five power conferences plus Notre Dame competing for four spots. So then expand the playoff, right? Well...
4) ESPN and the P5 conferences had agreed in 2021 to expand to the 12-team playoff and to have it in place by this 2023 season. After the SEC added UT and OU, the ACC/PAC/B1G announced "The Alliance" for reasons known only to them and put a halt on the expanded playoff. Soon after, the B1G raided the killed off the PAC, the B1G commish left, and everyone came to their senses and approved the 12-team playoff...but now it couldn't be implemented until 2024. Now we have the ACC Commish Phillips complaining about his conference champ being excluded from the four-team playoff? Maybe he should be held accountable for that very poor short-sighted decision which ultimately cost FSU and his conference a chance to compete in a playoff this year not to mention the revenue that comes with it. FSU should have grounds to terminate their GOR and leave the ACC immediately over this and many other issues.
It's not like this scenario of ranking a one-loss team over an unbeaten has never happened before. In fact in 1993, FSU won their first ever National Championship by benefitting from a scenario like this. FSU was 11-1 but ranked #1 heading into the bowls ahead of 11-0 Nebraska, 11-0 West Virginia, and 11-0 Auburn. Also ahead of 10-1 Notre Dame who had beaten FSU head to head! However FSU got to play in the designated MNC Bowl Game vs Nebraska while West Virginia and Notre Dame did not have a chance. The idiocy of this sport hurt FSU in 2023 but no doubt benefitted them in 1993.
The system has always been flawed. Any system where a team can go UNDEFEATED and not have a chance to compete for the championship is flawed. Every team deserves to play until you lose IMO. What happened to FSU was unfortunate but I'm not sure why we are so surprised?
