Skip Bayless has come to the defense of the under-fire College Football Playoff Committee, after their decision to omit Florida State from their top four caused huge controversy on Sunday lunchtime.
Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama were chosen as the top four teams in the country – and therefore playoff semi-finalists – while Florida State and Georgia dropped down to fifth and sixth respectively.
While many agreed with the decision for Georgia to drop out in the wake of their shock loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, FSU’s omission came as a big surprise given they have gone 13-0 for the year, even after their star quarterback Jordan Travis got injured on November 18.
Despite the furore, Undisputed host Bayless has thrown his weight behind the committee’s decision, and believes they were right to choose Alabama over the Seminoles.
‘It was a sports tragedy that Jordan Travis went down the way he went down,’ Bayless begun, ‘but that’s not the point right now. It happened, it was hard to watch, it just tears your heart out for Florida State.
Skip Bayless claimed that the College Football Playoff Committee made the correct decision
They opted to leave undefeated Florida State out in favor of 12-1 Alabama on Sunday
‘They lost a Heisman candidate, they lost their leader, they lost their play-maker, they lost their offense, all at once… yet, what’s the goal here? Isn’t the goal to get the best four teams right now?’
Bayless went on to explain that after Travis’ injury, they turned to back-up Tate Rodemaker for a 24-15 win over Florida, but he got concussed in that game.
That injury left FSU with a third-string true freshman QB in Brock Glen, and despite the win over Louisville in the ACC Championship Game, Bayless believes the absence of a credible starter is why it was the correct decision to leave them out.
Bayless claimed that the injury to star QB Jordan Travis is sufficient reason to omit FSU
Travis missed the last two games after needing surgery on an injury suffered on November 18
In explanation, the FS1 analyst explained that Glen was 2-6 on third downs and had a QB rating of 13 out of 100 in the game.
‘Their defense is playoff caliber, but not their offense,’ Bayless added. ‘You’re risking embarrassment if you send that offense to the wolves up above you.’
The panel then used TCU’s College Football Playoff Final defeat to Georgia last year as an example of the potential blowout that ‘nobody wants to see’ in this year’s playoffs.
TCU went into the showpiece game as third seed, but lost 65-7 – a record-breaking loss for a college football bowl game.
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