What ACC Champion Florida State getting left out of the College Football Playoff means.

If winning the ACC Championship and going undefeated doesn't garner respect, is the ACC really a "Power 5" conference?

With what was put in front of them, Florida State couldn't have done anything more. The Seminoles finished the season with a perfect 13-0 record and an ACC Championship. But in the world where the selection committee selects the four "best" teams, they were left on the outside looking in, passed over for two one-loss teams.

What does that mean for the ACC? Is winning the championship of this conference so insignificant? To be fair to the committee, the conference didn't do a lot to prop itself up this year. Lousiville, Florida State's ACC Championship game opponent, got bludgeoned the week before by a bod Kentucky team. Outside of Florida State, every team finished with at least three losses. Two of the conference's best hopes - Clemson and North Carolina - finished the season with four losses. No team on Florida State's schedule finished with less than three losses.

Florida State finished their season 13-0, with a bowl game upcoming / Florida State Athletics

With that said, Florida State's record wasn't what kept them out. It was the loss of quarterback Jordan Travis. The Seminoles unfortunately didn't have a solution for the season-ending injury Travis suffered against North Alabama. The 'Noles slogged through wins over Florida and Louisville, showing nothing of the dynamic offense they showed against LSU in week one.

"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," said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips.

It was a down year for the ACC, but it may have also been fatal if the 12-team playoff wasn't coming next year. Though it wasn't the conference's fault Travis was injured, Florida State could use this snub as another catalyst for the school's departure from the ACC. If going undefeated and winning the ACC doesn't get you in the Playoff, what will? The ACC champ will get a guaranteed spot in future playoffs, but will that be enough to keep Florida State and maybe Clemson in the conference?