Mike Norvell released a statement on the College Football Playoff selection committee’s decision to exclude Florida State from the top 4 on Sunday.
FSU landed at No. 5 in the CFP rankings this week, behind a pair of one-loss teams in Texas and Alabama. Florida State is now the first undefeated Power 5 team to ever be left out of the College Football Playoff.
Jordan Travis’ injury was a major reason for FSU’s exclusion, committee chair Boo Corrigan said on Sunday. Travis suffered a serious leg injury in Florida State’s win over North Alabama in Week 12.
Norvell called out the hypocrisy of that decision — amongst other things — in his statement:
“I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the games,” Norvell said in a statement. “What is the point of playing games? Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging non-conference games? We are not only an undefeated P5 conference champion, but we also played two P5 non-conference games away from home and won both of them. I don’t understand how we are supposed to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team.
I’m hurting for our players who have displayed a tremendous amount of resilience and response this season. What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football. A team that overcame tremendous adversity and found a way to win doing whatever it took on the field was cheated today. It’s a sad day for college football.”
I’m proud of the work we have put in and the players I have the privilege to coach. We have one more opportunity to define this 2023 team in the Orange Bowl, and I believe in how our team will respond.”
From the head coach on today’s @CFBPlayoff Committee rankings#KeepCLIMBing pic.twitter.com/cnP4n8mcpr
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) December 3, 2023
Florida State will now begin preparations for the Orange Bowl.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
