Booger McFarland Torched The Committee For Leaving Undefeated Florida State Out Of The Playoff

The final College Football Playoff rankings announcement on Sunday was always going to lead to anger and frustration, as the committee was going to have to do one of three things: leave the SEC out entirely, leave Texas out for an Alabama team it beat, or leave out an undefeated Florida State team that won the ACC because its quarterback got hurt.

Ultimately, they chose leaving Florida State out, citing their offensive struggles in the ACC title game as they had to start their third-stringer in a 16-6 win over Louisville. That set up a very enticing semifinals of Michigan-Alabama and Washington-Texas, but it certainly didn’t feel fair to leave an undefeated Power Five conference champ out for a pair of one-loss teams. With this being the final year of the four-team playoff, with expansion coming to bring 12 teams in, it felt like the committee almost had cover to make the best television decision rather than the fairest decision, because they wouldn’t be setting a precedent.

On the ESPN selection show, Greg McElroy and Kirk Herbstreit felt it was the right move, even if a surprising and even difficult one, but Booger McFarland was furious with the choice. McFarland lit up the committee, calling FSU being left out a “travesty to the sport.”

There was never going to be an easy decision with the way things fell, but I can’t blame anyone for feeling the way McFarland does. There’s literally nothing else Florida State could have done, they managed to still win their conference title game despite being on their third string quarterback to finish off an undefeated season, and now they won’t get a chance to try and compete for a national title. Even if I think Michigan-Alabama will be a better game, I also can’t know for sure FSU wouldn’t figure it out over the next month to make it competitive, and that will make it all the more painful for the Noles.