You're smarter than this.
Look at what the committee did.
Week 13: FSU vs FCS Directional Tech.....Jordan Travis is hurt badly, out for the year. So there's some uncertainty there. FSU blows out the FCS team. FSU was ranked 4th, but drops down to 5th. 5th out of the 5 undefeated P5 teams left.
.
Week 14: Rivalry Weekend! The Game! OSU loses to UM and drops. FSU, with their backup QB, beats Florida. The offense looks bad. But with OSU losing, FSU moves up. The committee gave FSU the benefit of the doubt here. Bad offensive showing vs a bad defense, but they got it done, and as they're prone to do, just shuffling up the zero-loss teams ahead of the 1-loss teams.
What we all may not have known here is that the committee was focusing on FSU, especially the offense, and wanted to give them the opportunity to play their way into maintaining their ranking (4th, once again).
Just look like a playoff team vs UL. Show that the offense is functional and not a dumpster fire. Earn you way in. Here's your chance.
.
Week 15: FSU scores one TD. Their defense plays with its hair on fire, but FSU is half a team. They were given the benefit of the doubt the week before, but they've shown the offense is a shell of its former self.
RB Benson could have taken over, but didn't.
WR Coleman could have stepped up his game, but didn't.
The only plus was the backup RB hitting one long run.
.
Two teams behind FSU were also being watched closely. One played the #1 team and the other played a lower-ranked team. Oklahoma State was ranked even below Louisville. Alabama beat #1 and Texas beat Okie State, scoring more than 1 TD. They scored 7 TDs. Played their way into the playoff.
So Bama beat the #1 team and Texas drubbed the lower-ranked team, playing well on both sides of the ball.
.
Is it unfortunate that FSU lost its QB? Yes.
Would it have immensely helped if someone stepped up on offense? Yes.
Is any of this "fair"? No.
Is it some sort of bomb shelter cash handshake conspiracy? No.
.
Any of the 4 teams in the playoff could win it.
You could not say that with FSU included. FSU had the chance to play their way in, and they fell short. No, their backup QB isn't appreciably better than the 3rd stringer. No, a zero in the loss column isn't a "get into the playoff free" card.
.
I am truly baffled that the consensus seems to be that FSU being left out is some sort of crime against everything that is holy and good in the world.
Oh, and this:
You can also look at it differently.
Week 14: FSU is against an outmatched opponent. They have a talented backup QB but who has not been running with the 1's in practice except for this week. They know they can trust their defense and move to a more vanilla offensive scheme to secure the win, knowing that with a little more experience, they can open it up.
Week 15: FSU just lost their second string QB, but they know they're again against an outmatched (but less so) opponent. The third-string QB hasn't even been running with the 2's for more than a week, and now gets one week to run with the 1's. So let's again play conservatively to get the W and try to get out of here with 3 weeks of practice (and Wodemaker returning as it was a concussion, not a season-ender) to get Wodemaker up to speed with the 1's.
Kinda like the 2nd half of the UM/PSU game. "Oh, UM couldn't throw the ball!" No, they
chose not to, because they didn't think they needed to throw the ball to get the W.
These kinds of things happen. FSU doesn't recruit scrubs. Chances are they wanted Wodemaker on the roster for a reason. But if they had tried to go all-out with a full offensive gameplan against a lesser opponent, when they didn't need it, and then a few offensive miscues led to giving the opponent good field position or a defensive score? Now they've got an L on the record. Instead, play conservatively and trust your defense to strangle your opponent.
Because a W by 1 point vs a W by 20 points looks like the same thing on your record... Unless you're not judged on your record, and it's all a big f%&#^@g beauty pageant.
