Stephen Slezak, Campus Carrier asst. sports editor
College football in 2023 missed out on having one of the best teams in the country participate in their four-team playoffs. Florida State University (FSU) was not included in the playoffs after finishing with a perfect record and as Power Five conference champion. This was one of the biggest robberies to have ever occurred by a sports committee.
The talent on the team could compete with any team that was included in that playoff. There were 12 draft combine invites and two first round picks, which were more than Texas, Georgia and Alabama. Two of the top rookies in the National Football League (NFL) also came from FSU being the Rookie of the Year, Jared Verse and runner up Braden Fiske. Before FSU was wrongly left out, all 15 undefeated Power Five champions had made the playoffs with FSU making history as the first ever undefeated power five champion to be left out.
Even though Jordan Travis was injured and out for the rest of the season, Tate Rodemaker would have been the starting quarterback for the Seminoles and was more than capable of winning a playoff game. Jalen Milroe of Alabama finished with a stat line of 16 for 23 on pass attempts for 116 yards and a 48 QBR rating. Alabama was also one possession away from winning against Michigan with a worse surrounding team. The 2023 FSU team would have been able to beat Michigan with subpar quarterback play and a surrounding team full of NFL talent.
Those who believe FSU was rightfuly left out say that they did not have their starting quarterback and that their strength of schedule was not enough get them in. As previously stated, Rodemaker would have been the quarterback for the Seminoles and showed that he was more than capable of winning a game. He played against the University of Florida, where he led the Seminoles to a win and covered the spread on the road against their opponent. Two teams that did not cover the spread against their rival that same week and received zero backlash include Alabama and Georgia. Alabama also needed a miracle play to beat a bad Auburn play, where FSU had the game handled against a better Florida team by the fourth quarter.
The strength of schedule argument is also not a valid enough argument. FSU played a top five LSU team and won by 20. Keep in mind that team had Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas and struggled to score 20 points that game. FSU won at Clemson, where up until then, the Tigers only had four home losses since 2014. FSU beat number 16 Duke and number 14 Louisville with covering the spread on both of those teams.
Florida State should have been included in the 2023 college football playoffs as an undefeated Power Five conference champion. What happened from that selection committee had never happened and never will happen again to another college football team. The team did everything they could to make the playoffs, are a group of committee members decided the result of a football game in a conference room instead of allowing the players achieve what they deserved.