College Football

CFP Rankings 2023: FSU finds out what committee values, and it's not winning, integrity

Updated Dec. 3, 2023 11:16 p.m. ET

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RJ Young

FOX Sports National College Football Analyst

Florida State athletic director Michael Alford is right: The College Football Playoff selection committee’s decision to leave the 13-0, ACC champion Seminoles out of the CFP is "unforgivable."

For FSU fans, it’s not just that the committee let them down. It’s that they’re right to question the credibility of those members on this year’s committee, and they're right to believe that winning every game you play doesn’t matter as much as what your fantasy football roster looks like — even when you’re not undefeated, as is the case with Texas and Alabama.

(I shared my thoughts on the CFP rankings with a special live episode of "The Number One College Football Show," which you can watch right here.)

FSU players are right to feel aggrieved, too. Noles coach Mike Norvell might never say a nice word about the CFP ever again. And while it’s great that we won’t use this four-team format again — switching to 12 teams next season precisely so a situation like this one doesn’t occur — that is no comfort to an FSU team that did everything we ask of Power 5 teams to earn selection into the CFP.

The CFP committee would tell us they put Alabama into the tournament over FSU because it feels the Tide is a better team. It would rather we not point out the truth: FSU wasn’t selected because the star quarterback, Jordan Travis, broke his leg three weeks ago in a 58-10 victory over North Alabama.

For his part, Travis said he wished he’d broken his leg earlier in the year so that the CFP committee could see the Seminoles were made of more than just the quarterback. That is a heartbreaking sentiment, as no one wishes injury on a player. For him to not only wish it on himself but at the expense of an otherwise glorious season is one more reason the CFP committee’s decision is awful.

While all of this is true, when it comes to the teams that did get the CFP committee’s nod for approval — No. 1 Michigan, No. 2 Washington, No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Alabama — fans could end up witnessing the best product on the field we’ve ever seen in the 10-year history of the CFP.

And there will be no shortage of storylines.

Breaking down Michigan vs. Alabama, Washington vs. Texas

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian and defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski will play against the program they once coached (Washington) in the Sugar Bowl. Kalen DeBoer, who has gone 23-2 in the last two years with the Huskies, gets to put his 17-2 playoff record (at NAIA Sioux Falls) on the line against a Texas team that is more than capable of scoring with them.

Alabama will play a Michigan team that it last beat in the 2020 Citrus Bowl, 35-16, with yet another chance to beat the best the Big Ten has to offer. Bama is also the only team in this CFP field that has won a playoff game, let alone a national title, in the CFP era.

Michigan, whose best competition this season was Ohio State, will get to prove it is No. 1 against Nick Saban and the Tide in the Rose Bowl.

If Michigan can beat Bama and Texas can beat Washington, the national title game — Michigan vs. Texas — will be replayed on Sept. 7, 2024.

The ACC isn’t a Power 5 conference anymore — not after this. All four teams in the CFP are or will be in the Big Ten or SEC next season.

And even the fallible ones will get the benefit of the doubt.

Alabama damn near lost to Auburn. Georgia was tied with Auburn until there were three minutes left in the game. Bama and UGA combined to beat Auburn by a total of 10 points. Auburn got smashed by New Mexico State, 31-10.  If you had to be heroic against a 6-6 Auburn that lost to New Mexico State by 21 points at home, you aren’t elite. And being elite used to be the barrier to entry into a national title game.

Now? The scoreboard doesn’t matter. The games don’t matter. And that’s a far cry from the integrity our sport claims to stand for. The point of playing games used to be winning them. 

Now, the point of playing games is simply to ignore the results we don’t like.

If you don't think that's true, just ask Florida State.

The final 2023 College Football Playoff Rankings

1. Michigan (13-0)
2. Washington (13-0)
3. Texas (12-1)
4. Alabama (12-1)
5. Florida State (13-0)
6. Georgia (12-1)
7. Ohio State (11-1)
8. Oregon (11-2)
9. Missouri (10-2)
10. Penn State (10-2)
11. Ole Miss (10-2)
12. Oklahoma (10-2)
13. LSU (9-3)
14. Arizona (9-3)
15. Louisville (10-3)
16. Notre Dame (9-3)
17. Iowa (10-3)
18. NC State (9-3)
19. Oregon State (8-4)
20. Oklahoma State (9-4)
21. Tennessee (8-4)
22. Clemson (8-4)
23. Liberty (13-0)
24. SMU (11-2)
25. Kansas State (8-4)

RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast "The Number One College Football Show." Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to "The RJ Young Show" on YouTube.

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