‘Devastated’ Florida State QB apologizes after college football playoff snub

“Devastated. Heartbroken,” Travis wrote on X, moments after the College Football Playoff Committee announced its final foursome. “In so much disbelief rn [right now], I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. 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!”

Michigan was the top seed and Washington was second while Texas and Alabama, both with one loss, leapfrogged the Seminoles, who fell to the fifth seed. Michigan and Alabama, the fourth seed, will meet in the Rose Bowl, with Washington facing No. 3 Texas in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. Florida State, the fifth seed, will play Georgia, the sixth seed, Dec. 30 in the Orange Bowl.

FSU Coach Mike Norvell did not mince words about his 13-0 team, which is the first unbeaten Power Five conference winner to miss out on the College Football Playoff in the 10 years of the four-team playoff’s existence.

“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,” Norvell said in a statement. “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 nonconference games? We are not only an undefeated P5 conference champion, but we also played two P5 nonconference games away from home and won both of them. 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.”

Florida State Athletic director Michael Alford echoed that, saying the decision gave in “to a narrative” that is “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,” he continued. “It renders the season up to yesterday irrelevant and significantly damages the legitimacy of the College Football Playoff,” Alford said in a statement. “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 unforgivable.”

Michigan, Washington, Texas, Alabama selected for College Football Playoff

Jim Phillips, commissioner of the ACC, called the omission “unfathomable.”

ESPN’s Booger McFarland said the decision to take ‘Bama over FSU was “a travesty.”

“I understand that we want to look at style points,” McFarland said, “and who are we going to get for the best matchups. But that’s not what this is about. This is about understanding to get the four best teams. One team has a loss. And that’s Alabama. One team doesn’t, in Florida State. And the fact that this committee could take a Power Five conference champion that’s undefeated, those kids that went out there and busted their behind, and not get into the playoff based on the eye test. Mind you, this is the same Alabama team that needed a prayer in Jordan-Hare to beat an Auburn team that lost to New Mexico State. That’s really what has me bothered right now.”

After Travis’s college career was cut short by the injury suffered Nov. 19 against North Alabama, Florida State won its last two games, including Saturday’s 16-6 triumph in the conference championship game. Backup Tate Rodemaker started the regular season finale against Florida but missed the ACC title game because of a concussion, giving way to third-stringer Brock Glenn.