Paul Finebaum Defends College Football Playoff Committee After Florida State Snub

The talking head might as well insert foot in mouth.

Florida State is fresh off an ACC Championship win over Louisville, doing so without Jordan Travis. The Seminoles' star quarterback suffered a season-ending injury in Week 12 as the team was 11-0. 

The Seminoles finished out the season strong, defeating Florida on the road and, obviously, winning the conference championship. Still, even after doing so and finishing the season 13-0, FSU dropped out of the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings in the final rankings of the season.

When the playoffs were being set on Sunday, the committee had both Texas and Alabama jump Florida State. It was expected that one of those two teams would be in the final rankings in a playoff spot, but not both of them. 

Florida State being snubbed sent social media and sports media both into a frenzy, either supporting the decision or sharing frustrations with the committee and their process.

ESPN Analyst Goes To Bat For Florida State After College Football Playoff Snub

ESPN's Paul Finebaum defended the committee and their choice to place Alabama over the Seminoles. Florida State has been the only undefeated Power Five team to miss the playoffs since the four-team playoff model was released. 

“I felt Nick Saban put it best yesterday by beating Georgia,” Finebaum said on ESPN. “It wasn’t because it’s the SEC. It’s because the SEC champion [Alabama] beat the best team in the country, and the team that beat the SEC now-champion finished third [Texas]. That’s a really nice resumé.”

Finebaum didn't stop by defending the committee and their choice to have both Texas and Alabama, two one-loss teams, jump Florida State in the rankings, but he then commented on Jim Phillips, the ACC commissioner. 

“I don’t mean to point fingers back at the ACC, but the ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips put out this manifesto earlier, outraged and unfathomable — I think was his word — but he was one of those three commissioners that joined that alliance a couple of years ago that really stopped the 12-team playoff from being in existence today,” Finebaum continued. “It’s a little over the top and, quite frankly, it doesn’t matter because we have a system next year that suits what all the people are crying about.”

Either way, one of the fanbases was going to be outraged. Texas, Alabama, and Florida State were the three teams competing for two spots, and the committee made their choice. 

Whether it was the right or wrong decision to make, what message does it send? Should Florida State have stopped its season after Travis went down with his injury? Does staying resilient and winning two tough games, neither on their home field, not matter?

Heading into the conference championship weekend 12-0 and the No. 4 team in the CFP rankings made it seem like the Seminoles just had to win and get in, yet that didn't happen. Obviously, this won't as much next year as the 12-team playoff format essentially guarantees each Power Five conference champion gets into the playoffs.

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