Joel Klatt explains why Texas was selected over Florida State for CFB berth

Joel Klatt addressed Texas’ inclusion in the College Football Playoff at the expense of undefeated ACC champion Florida State.

For Klatt, it all boils down to the Longhorns’ early-season victory over Alabama, so far the Crimson Tide’s only loss of the year as they went on to beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Snubbing Texas would mean the committee “devalu[ed] non-conference schedules”.

“The head-to-head was a bridge too far for the committee,” Klatt said. “They couldn’t say, ‘Well, no, Alabama was clearly better than Texas,’ because we would have just pointed to 2 weeks ago when they needed a 4th-and-31 to beat an Auburn team that lost by 21 the previous week to New Mexico State.”

As for Florida State, Klatt felt there was a case to include the Seminoles in the Playoff thanks in part to their 13-0 record, conference title, and their own key early-season win over then-No. 13 LSU. There was just 1 caveat, though.

“They (the committee) had the ace up their sleeve of Jordan Travis’s injury. Jordan Travis’s injury becomes the path of least resistance,” he said.

"Can you really tell the Texas Longhorns- who are about to be members in said SEC conference- that their win at said SEC Champion, Alabama, in September didn't matter?"@JoelKlatt breaks down Texas and Alabama making the CFP over Florida State ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/WQyxENz4jS

— The Joel Klatt Show: A CFB Pod (@JoelKlattShow) December 4, 2023

Sydney Hunte

Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.