Many feel that SEC bias was a factor in Florida State being left out of the College Football Playoff following an undefeated season, and at least one coach from the conference is unhappy with the snub.
Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz discussed the College Football Playoff controversy during a Thursday appearance on SiriusXM’s College Sports Radio. Drinkwitz said he finds it absurd that a quarterback injury was the justification for excluding Florida State from the four-team field.
“If we’re gonna really have hard conversations, let me ask you this: If a team in the playoff has a star player get injured, are they gonna be removed from the playoff and then we put Florida State back in?” Drinkwitz asked. “That, to me, was complete nonsensical rationalization. I know I’m an SEC guy, but that one bothered me a whole lot.”
Of course, many have pointed out that Drinkwitz would likely have a different opinion if his team were in Alabama’s position. If Missouri had one loss and defeated Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, Drinkwitz would almost certainly argue that the Tigers deserved a spot over Florida State.
Florida State went 13-0 and beat Louisville in the ACC Championship Game. The Seminoles finished their undefeated regular season even after starting quarterback Jordan Travis went down. Despite that, the College Football Playoff selection committee felt that FSU should not be considered one of the four best teams in the country without Travis, so Alabama and Texas got in instead.
Florida State is the only undefeated Power Five conference champion to ever be excluded from the College Football Playoff. The luxury that the committee had is that the CFP is expanding to 12 teams beginning next year, so there was no concern about setting any precedent.
As one of Florida State’s most famous alumni put it, the College Football Playoff made a business decision by keeping the Seminoles out.
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