This weekend's conference championship palooza could create heated debates that will tear apart families, but there's one opinion that we should all agree on: Florida State doesn't belong in the College Football Playoff.
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Let me repeat that: The Seminoles, regardless of whether they win or lose Saturday against Louisville for the Atlantic Coast Conference title, should be left out.
Sure, I may be a Florida Gator still sour over another close rivalry loss to the garnet-and-gold team. But anyone with eyes can see that this quarterback-less team will flop harder than a recent Drake album if put into the CFP. Let's dig into why that is.
The ACC is Weak Sauce
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The ACC a putrid conference. It really is, and Florida State is benefiting because of it.
Consider that Florida State's only contest against a current ranked opponent came in Game 1, a 45-24 win over the No. 13 LSU Tigers. LSU is far from the same team now; and given the way Heisman hopeful Jayden Daniels has played, it would annihilate FSU.
Dive further into their schedule and you'll find that eight of their 12 opponents have a .500 record or worse. They are:
- Southern Miss (3-9)
- Boston College (6-6)
- Virginia Tech (6-6)
- Syracuse (6-6)
- Wake Forest (4-8)
- Pittsburgh (3-9)
- North Alabama (3-8 in FCS)
- Florida (5-7)
Florida State squeaked by Clemson in overtime and needed a last-minute interception to seal a 27-20 win over Miami. Its shiniest wins are LSU and Duke, the latter of which lost quarterback Riley Leonard to injury in that game.
A win over Louisville would undoubtedly boost FSU's resumé, but it doesn't hold a candle to the likes of Michigan, Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Oregon and Washington.
According to ESPN's Football Power Index rankings, Florida State is the ninth-best team in the country behind a 10-2 Oklahoma. To get a sense of how bad the ACC is, the only other team in the top 20 is Clemson, which checks in at No. 19.
Let's Talk About the Backup QB
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The last thing the CFP Selection Committee wants is another TCU-Georgia nightmare. Last year's national championship blowout was the least-viewed CFP Championship Game. Allowing this Florida State team in the playoff could create another lopsided rout that no one wants to watch.
Why? Well, just look at the most important position on the field. In two games (North Alabama and Florida), FSU backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker completed 52% of his passes (25 of 48) for 351 yards and two touchdowns. His best QBR (total quarterback rating) came against Florida, a 43.8 mark that belongs in an Iowa offense. For reference, Oregon passer Bo Nix's worst QBR this season was 73.1 against Colorado.
Rodemaker and the Seminole offense looked completely lost against Florida in the first half. It had just 85 yards of total offense, plus he was sacked in his own end zone for a safety. And this was against a Gator defense that sits 69th in total defense.
The junior signal-caller eventually settled down to beat Florida, which was also without its starting quarterback. But let's not kid ourselves here: Rodemaker being in charge of the Florida State attack doesn't make that team anywhere near the top 4 teams in the country — even if they have talents such as Jared Verse and Keon Coleman on the roster.
The latest CFP rankings that pegged Florida State the No. 4 team are a sign of a scared committee. There's a reason analysts such as Kirk Herbstreit have already called it out. But Herbstreit is right in that if Florida State wins, there's no way the committee leaves them out.
However, the job of the committee is to select the best four teams, not the best four undefeated conference champions. Winning the ACC is not an automatic bid to play for a national title, especially given how many great teams are out there. And if you think Rodemaker can hang with Georgia or Michigan, then I have news for you.
Of course, none of anything I'm saying matters if Louisville wins Saturday. Let's hope that's the case so we're all saved come semifinals time.
