‘Florida State deserved better’: FSU, ACC react to Seminoles being left out of playoffs

A few hour had passed and Mike Norvell still couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment that had been handed to his team Sunday afternoon.

Norvell’s Florida State Seminoles completed a perfect regular season, capped by their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship since 2014 with a 16-6 win over the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday.

Their reward? Being left out of the College Football Playoff after entering the week in the four-team field.

The Seminoles were ranked No. 5 in the final CFP poll and will instead play No. 6 Georgia in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium.

The Big 10 champion Michigan Wolverines, Pac-12 champion Washington Huskies, Big 12 champion Texas Longhorns and Southeastern Conference champion Alabama Crimson Tide took the top four spots in the College Football Playoff rankings.

When the final playoff spot revealed Alabama had jumped FSU, Norvell sunk his head into his hands at the team’s watch party.

“I just hurt for the players,” Norvell said of what he called an “emotional day” for him and the team. “To be honest with you, that was one of the tougher moments I had to experience, just for all that they’ve done. You talk to a team about responding to adversity, getting up and going to give all they that you can to be able to find a way to win a college football game, it’s hard to do, especially when you face of the adversities that we’ve had this year whether it’s injury or just different things to overcome.”

The Seminoles overcame any and all issues thrown at them on the field.

The only thing they couldn’t overcome: A 13-person selection committee.

FSU (13-0) became the first undefeated conference champion from a Power 5 conference to be left out of the playoff field.

“I know firsthand how hard it is to have an undefeated season. It is hard,” said Georgia coach Kirby Smart, whose team won each of the past two national championships and had a 29-game win streak snapped in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama to drop five spots from No. 1 to No. 6 in the final poll. “It’s hard to win games in any conference. It’s hard to win games repeatedly and he had a perfect season and won every game. That’s really hard to do.”

Boo Corrigan, athletic director at NC State and the chairman of the 2023 CFP selection committee, said on ESPN after the playoff field was revealed that while FSU had a perfect record, the Seminoles as they are now are “a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks” of the season following a season-ending injury to star starting quarterback Jordan Travis late in the regular season to injury. Backup Tate Rodemaker also went down in the regular-season finale against Florida, leaving the Seminoles to play third-string quarterback Brock Glenn in the ACC Championship Game.

“Coach Norvell, their players, their fans [had] an incredible season,” Corrigan said, “but as you look at who they are as a team right now without Jordan Travis, without the offensive dynamic that he brings to it, they are a different team. And the committee voted Alabama four and Florida State five there.”

Travis, the injured FSU starting quarterback, responded to that comment by posting on X (the social media site formerly known as Twitter) that he was “devastated,” “heartbroken” and in “so much disbelief” with the decision.

“I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback,” Travis wrote. “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!”

And he wasn’t the only one to make his opinion heard.

Norvell released a statement after the announcement saying he was “disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision ... 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.”

“What is the point of playing games?” Norvell asked rhetorically. “Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? ... I don’t understand how we are supposed to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team.”

FSU athletic director Michael Alford added in his own statement: “The consequences of giving in to a narrative of the moment are destructive, far reaching, and permanent. Not just for Florida State, but college football as a whole. ... “Wins matter. Losses matter. Those that compete in the arena know this. Those on the committee who also competed in the sport and should have known this have forgotten it. Today, they changed the way success is assessed in college football, from a tangible metric — winning on the field — to an intangible, subjective one. Evidently, predicting the future matters more.”

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips called the decision to leave FSU out of the playoff field “unfathomable.”

“Their exclusion calls into question the selection process and whether the Committee’s own guidelines were followed, including the significant importance of being an undefeated Power Five conference champion,” Phillips said in a statement. “My heart breaks for the talented FSU student-athletes and coaches and their passionate and loyal fans. Florida State deserved better. College football deserved better.”

The sting is still fresh, but Norvell said he will make sure the Seminoles are prepared for the Orange Bowl game with Georgia, a matchup of what he said will be between “two of the best teams in all of college football this year.”

“They’re disappointed here today with the news of not getting a chance to compete for a national championship,” Norvell said, “but we’ve had a team that’s responded throughout the course of the year. ... I believe in the heart, the character of this team and I know they will respond once again.”

Below are the full statements released by FSU’s Norvell and Alford as well as the ACC’s Phillips.

FSU coach Mike Norvell

“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. 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 non-conference games away from home and won both of them [LSU and Florida]. I don’t understand how we are supposed to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team.

“I’m hurting for our players who have displayed a tremendous amount of resilience and response this season. What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football. A team that overcame tremendous adversity and found a way to win doing whatever it took on the field was cheated today. It’s a sad day for college football.

“I’m proud of the work we have put in and the players I have the privilege to coach. We have one more opportunity to define this 2023 team in the Orange Bowl, and I believe in how our team will respond.”

FSU athletic director Michael Alford

“The consequences of giving in to a narrative of the moment are destructive, far reaching, and permanent. Not just for Florida State, but college football as a whole.

“The argument of whether a team is the ‘most deserving OR best’ is a false equivalence. 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 unforgiveable.

“The fact that this team has continued to close out victories in dominant fashion facing our current quarterback situation should have ENHANCED our case to get a playoff berth EARNED on the field. Instead, the committee decided to elevate themselves and ‘make history’ today by departing from what makes this sport great by excluding an undefeated Power 5 conference champion for the first time since the advent of the BCS/CFP era that began 25 years ago. This ridiculous decision is a departure from the competitive expectations that have stood the test of time in college football.

“Wins matter. Losses matter. Those that compete in the arena know this. Those on the committee who also competed in the sport and should have known this have forgotten it. Today, they changed the way success is assessed in college football, from a tangible metric — winning on the field — to an intangible, subjective one. Evidently, predicting the future matters more.

“For many of us, today’s decision by the committee has forever damaged the credibility of the institution that is the College Football Playoff. And, saddest of all, it was self-inflicted. They chose predictive competitiveness over proven performance; subjectivity over fact. They have become a committee of prognosticators. They have abandoned their responsibility by discarding their purpose – to evaluate performance on the field.

“Our players, coaches, and fans - as well as all those who love this sport - deserve better. The committee failed college football today.”

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips

“It’s unfathomable that Florida State, an undefeated Power 5 conference champion, was left out of the College Football Playoff. Their exclusion calls into question the selection process and whether the Committee’s own guidelines were followed, including the significant importance of being an undefeated Power Five conference champion. My heart breaks for the talented FSU student-athletes and coaches and their passionate and loyal fans. Florida State deserved better. College football deserved better.”