I'm upset. When it comes to sports, I rarely get angry over situations where it causes me to rethink my stance on college football. Today was that day where I did. A committee thought that a team from a Power 5 Conference who went undefeated and won their championship was not good enough to go to the playoff, yet two teams with one loss met their criteria. This is a situation that questions their motive in selecting these two teams in the first place.
Florida State deserves better. Watching their reaction to being snubbed is heartbreaking. This year was their revival as the Noles were back to the near top of college football and was trying to claim a National Championship like ten years ago. Head Coach Mike Norvell said it best, "What is the point of playing games?" Florida State ran the table and beat some good teams this season to stake their claim as a playoff club. It makes you wonder why the committee didn't see this and say to themselves, "This team is a shoo-in to be in the playoff." You would think, right?
I don't get the NCAA's obsession with Alabama. Sure, they've won many titles and Nick Saban is one of the greatest coaches of all-time, but you have to look at yourself in the mirror and realize that Bama was fortunate to even be in this situation due to a ten-game winning streak and Jalen Milroe playing terribly. You will say that they beat Georgia and they deserve this shot. Is it worth the backlash and the lying to yourselves that will appear as you come to terms with the notion that Alabama was "gifted" a playoff spot?
Same goes with Texas. They are also very fortunate to have this opportunity since their loss to Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout. The Longhorns did beat Alabama in September and did defeat their opponents in convincing fashion. Many people will point out that the Big XII isn't that tough of a conference anymore. That's not my problem, blame the NCAA. Anyways, Texas is moving to the SEC next season, so we will see what happens there.
Michigan and Washington went undefeated and won their conference championships to be the top two seeds in the playoff. See that, no problem there. Hell, Michigan had a freaking cheating scandal hanging over their heads and their head coach was suspended twice this season. That's right, two times. They were able to overcome that and defeated their biggest rival, Ohio State, and took out Iowa to claim the Big Ten. The Huskies ran the table and won the last championship of a once great conference to earn a shot in the playoff. Simple as that.
So, why was the Seminoles the odd team out? They weren't convincingly beating opponents to the committee's liking I believe. Also, their Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, Jordan Travis, was lost for the year and the team's identity was lost, also. Again, this is what I think led to their decision to exclude them.
After many hours of thinking and calming down, I think i figured out why this committee did this. 65-7, this was the score of the National Championship in January. Georgia dismantled TCU and the NCAA received a lot of flak due to letting the Horned Frogs in the playoff. Florida State has key injuries and again, were not beating opponents convincingly. Putting the Tide in over FSU is a bold strategy that they hope can lead to big ratings and MONEY, MONEY, MONEY! Personally, I hope this strategy backfires in their faces.
Next year, the playoff will be expanded to 12 teams and this tomfoolery will end, but for now, I want the NCAA committee to know that they will go to sleep and dream about the bags of money that they will be receiving. When they wake up, I hope that guilt will seep into their souls.
Shame on you, NCAA. For shame!
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