It would figure that if the 12-0 Seminoles take care of business and defeat Louisville in the ACC title game Saturday night (8:00/ABC) in Charlotte, then the No. 4 team in the College Football Playoff rankings should remain in the top four regardless of what else takes place during championship weekend.
The Seminoles turned to Tate Rodemaker at quarterback after Jordan Travis, the ACC player of the year, was lost for the season with a leg injury sustained against North Alabama two weeks ago. While Rodemaker did his job in FSU’s win over rival Florida in Gainesville last week, the playoff committee clearly looks at the Seminoles differently.
“It’s more than one player, but obviously, they are a different team without Jordan Travis,” committee chair Boo Corrigan said on ESPN following the revealing of the penultimate rankings Tuesday night.
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History might be on Florida State’s side. In nine previous years of the playoff, every undefeated team from a power conference has made the cut. However, Corrigan’s comment would lead one to believe that Mike Norvell’s team needs to look crisp in defeating the Cardinals. The eye test seems to matter in the eyes of the committee.
The winner of the Pac-12 championship between No. 3 Washington (12-0) and No. 5 Oregon (11-1) is in the playoff and No. 2 Michigan (12-0) figures to take care of No. 16 Iowa (10-2) in the Big Ten championship. The Wolverines are 23-point favorites.
Barring a huge upset by Iowa, that leaves the Seminoles, No. 1 Georgia (12-0), No. 8 Alabama (11-1) and No. 7 Texas (11-1) battling for the other two spots. No. 6 Ohio State (11-1), which lost to Michigan last week, has virtually no chance of a playoff berth.
Should the Crimson Tide get past Georgia in the SEC championship game Saturday (4 p.m./CBS) and snap the Bulldogs’ 29-game win streak in a close outcome, would the committee lift ‘Bama into the top four and keep Georgia in the top four?
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The Longhorns, it should be noted, handed Alabama its only loss in September. UT’s only loss was in the final seconds to rival Oklahoma. Hence, do not count them out, especially if they roll past Oklahoma State in the Big 12 championship and a domino or two falls their way.
While the Seminoles should be in good shape by defeating Louisville, no matter how it’s done, the faithful may want to pull for Georgia to be on the safe side.
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