It is no secret that the decision of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee to exclude an undefeated Power 5 conference champion from a chance to win a national title has sparked a significant amount of backlash, uproar, and disbelief in the Florida State world. The controversy has drawn the attention of many nationwide, including state politicians, media personalities, and public officials who have expressed their uncertainty about the current playoff format and decision-making process in a new era of college football.
ESPN's Greg McElroy has become the latest to weigh in on the decision. When asked about the snub on Reddit's "Ask Me Anything," he said that he believes Florida State "got robbed" and that the situation was a travesty, noting that an imperfect system drives imperfect results.
"Florida St got robbed. Plain and simple. The fact that they didn’t make the playoff is a travesty. We have a 4-team playoff. It’s an imperfect system, and therefore, we got an imperfect result," McElroy said. "The perfect result would be for the playoff to include Michigan, Washington, Texas, Alabama, and FSU. All 5 deserved a chance, but that’s not the system that we have. Do I think FSU would win in a playoff setting? No, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t want them to have a chance."
The National Championship Game, which takes place on Monday, January 8, will end the last four-team playoff as the NCAA has adopted a new 12-team format moving forward.
"FSU is a great program, and Mike Norvell is an elite coach. Y’all will be in great shape for ’24 and beyond," McElroy continued. "The end of this year sucked. The snub, the opt-outs, the Orange Bowl performance. Puke. All of it. But progress was made in a big way this year."
Florida State finished the season 13-1, with its lone loss being to Georgia in the Orange Bowl. Many players on the FSU roster felt robbed of their opportunity to compete for a National Title and opted out of the game with the 2024 NFL Draft in mind.
The arguable point still remains over which teams should've been in the last four-team playoff. However, both teams that were placed ahead of FSU (12-2 Alabama and 12-2 Texas) lost, and many of the arguing points that ESPN had against Florida State could be said about both the Crimson Tide and the Longhorns during their performances.
"You can hate it all you want. I don’t blame you. Part of me hates it, too. It sucks. I wish we could’ve had the 12-team this year, but we didn’t because of THE ALLIANCE. It is what it is. Hopefully, FSU’s players and coaches move on quicker than the people in my Social Media feed."
Still, there will always be "what could've been?" for FSU fans, and there is a good chance you will see the Seminoles in the playoffs next year. They currently have the No. 7 recruiting class in the country, according to 247Sports, and despite losing multiple players to the NFL Draft, they are geared to compete moving forward.
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