In its final year, the four-team College Football Playoff format has become the most controversial selection after a shocking snub. On Dec 3, Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama were selected, whereas Florida State became the first Power Five champions to be snubbed from a playoff spot.

After enjoying an excellent 13-0 undefeated run for the third time in the program’s history, the Florida State Seminoles were the obvious top four pick in terms of wins compared to Alabama or Texas, who both suffered a loss throughout the entire season. Yet while the Seminoles tallied perfect records on paper, their star quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending leg injury that brought the ball to back QB Tate Rodemaker, who also suffered a head injury. By the time the College Football Playoffs were around the corner, the Seminoles had slid down their chain of command to their third-string QB Brock Glenn. 

Ultimately, the 13-men CFP selection committee saw the undefeated Seminoles as a fundamentally different team by the end of Week 14 compared to the first 11 weeks, enough to sway a majority opinion to Alabama. The CFP reached out to CNN in early December, expressing that “there was no right answer… There was no wrong answer, either. But there was a safe answer. And that safe answer was Alabama.”

Alabama now makes its eighth CFP appearance, the most by any college football program since the creation of CFP in 2014. While the committee’s decision to leave out the Seminoles was met with fierce criticism by many fans, who believed the CFP had “failed college football,” in all fairness, the Seminoles lost to Georgia 63-3 in the Orange Bowl before the end of 2023. Maybe CFP’s judgment wasn’t far off after all.

#1 Michigan v.s. #4 Alabama in the Rose Bowl and #2 Washington v.s. #3 Texas in the Sugar Bowl, both on New Year’s Day.