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Mike Norvell responds to Greg Sankey comments regarding Georgia’s CFP snub: ‘They earned their loss’
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Mike Norvell addressed some comments made by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey regarding last season’s final College Football Playoff rankings on Monday.
Florida State was famously snubbed from the Playoff despite having a 13-0 record. However, the Noles weren’t the only program with a legitimate gripe about being left out of the final 4-team CFP, as Sankey noted earlier this month.
Georgia went 13-1 last season, with its only loss coming against Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. FSU finished 5th in the final CFP rankings, while Georgia slotted in at No. 6. Sankey took a jab at Florida State and the ACC last week, saying Georgia and the SEC didn’t “complain” after the Bulldogs were left out despite being “one of the four best teams.”
On Monday at ACC Kickoff, Norvell was given the chance to respond to Sankey’s comments. Norvell agreed UGA was a top-4 team last season, but he also pointed out a major difference between his (at-the-time) 13-0 Florida State team and the SEC-runner-up Bulldogs.
“I don’t disagree that Georgia was one of the top four teams if you’re judging off talent and ability but they also earned their loss,” Norvell said. “That was part of the result of what happened on the field. When you look at our team and what it was, we controlled the things we could control, we unfortunately had an injury, but we had a team that responded to it. Everybody can have an opinion of what happened. I don’t disagree they were one of the four best teams, but what happened on the field kept them out of the playoff.”
Asked Mike Norvell about Sankey’s comments that UGA was a top 4 team that didn’t make the playoff but SEC didn’t complain…
Norvell: “I don’t disagree that Georgia was one of the top four teams if you’re judging off talent and ability but they also earned their loss. That was…
— ️♈️ (@ADavidHaleJoint) July 22, 2024
Florida State was left out of the Playoff despite having a 13-0 record after quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season ending injury late in the year.
Despite Sankey’s remarks, there seems to be no lingering animosity between Florida State and Georgia regarding their respective CFP snubs. UGA blasted a compromised Florida State team 63-3 in last season’s Orange Bowl. After the game, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart acknowledged FSU’s opt-out situation, saying it “100 percent” affected the game.
With the College Football Playoff set to expand to 12 teams this fall, the ACC’s champion will almost certainly have a seat at the table. The 5 highest-ranked conference champions will automatically receive a berth into the CFP, with the top-4 set to earn first-round byes.
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Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
