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College Football Playoff Committee owes Jordan Travis, FSU football an apology | Kassim
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- College Football Playoff Committee owes Jordan Travis, FSU football an apology | Kassim
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Jordan Travis pondered the unthinkable in the aftermath of the College Football Committee's erroneous decision Sunday to leave Florida State out of the final four-team playoff field on Sunday.
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The redshirt senior, the ultimate team player, wondered if it would be better if he had broken his left leg earlier in the season instead of Nov. 18 against North Alabama for FSU (13-0).
"devastated. heartbroken," Travis wrote on his X account Sunday. "In so much disbelief [right now], I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y'all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!"
Travis has nothing to apologize about. The fact that he believes he does is as big of a travesty as the committee's decision to leave out an unbeaten program for a pair of 1-loss programs.
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The CFP committee decided that one player makes a team, not a group of individuals with the decision to qualify a deserving 84 other players and walks-on athletes.
If that's the case, let's send Travis to New York now to collect his Heisman Trophy to join Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke and Jamies Winston as FSU greats to do so.
The committee essentially told FSU that Travis is worth two losses, as that would be needed to bump the Seminoles down below two 1-loss conference champions.
Realistically, Travis isn't even getting the invite. His season ended essentially two games early. Oregon's Bo Nix , LSU's Jayden Daniels - who FSU shutdown better than anyone - and Washington's Michael Penix Jr. are the betting favorites.
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It's a damn shame. Travis already had one devasting season-ending injury. The committee is just adding injury to insult now.
"I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee's decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the games," FSU head coach Mike Norvell said in a statement.
"What is the point of playing 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? We are not only an undefeated P5 conference champion, but we also played two P5 non-conference games away from home and won both of them. I don't understand how we are supposed to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team."
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Florida State snubbed
In the final College Football Rankings, FSU came in as the No. 5 team behind a pair of unbeaten teams in No. 1 Michigan (13-0) and No. 2 Washington (13-0), as well as No. 3 Texas (12-1) and No. 4 Alabama (12-1).
"To me, this is a travesty to the sport," ESPN analyst Booger McFarland said Sunday on ESPN's selection show. "Because we go out there on the field and we play the game. And regardless of if it looks good at the quarterback position, regardless of if we win with offense, whether we win with defense, the name of the game is to win.
"And there's a reason (that) never before this has been done. Winning a Power Five conference, going undefeated and not getting into the playoff. I understand we want to look at style points. And who we're going to get for the best matchups. But that's not what this is about. This is about understanding to get the four best teams. One team has a loss, and that's Alabama. One team doesn't, in Florida State."
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As the top non-playoff team and the ACC Conference champion, the Seminoles are headed to the Orange Bowl in Miami to take on No. 6 Georgia (12-1). The Bulldogs dropped the SEC Championship to the Crimson Tide 27-24 and fell from No. 1 as a result.
But if Travis' injury dented the Seminoles as much as the committee claims, why isn't the two-time defending champion Bulldogs ranked ahead of them? FSU has won 19 straight and Georgia has won 29 of its last 30.
Action Network has the Bulldogs opening as a 12-point favorite over the Seminoles for the game scheduled for 4 p.m. Dec. 30.
The rational, like the ranking makes no damn sense.
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FSU was hosed.
Travis apologized when he did not need to.
"The argument of whether a team is the 'most deserving OR best' is a false equivalence," FSU Vice President and Director of Athletics Michael Alford said. "It renders the season up to yesterday irrelevant and significantly damages the legitimacy of the College Football Playoff.
"The 2023 Florida State Seminoles are the epitome of a total TEAM. To eliminate them from a chance to compete for a national championship is an unwarranted injustice that shows complete disregard and disrespect for their performance and accomplishments. It is unforgivable."
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The College Football Committee owes an immediate apology to FSU.
And especially to Travis for being willing to sacrifice himself, his body even more.
Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports), Instagram (tlhnolesports) and YouTube channel (NoleSportsTD).
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Jordan Travis, FSU football owed apology after playoff snub
