Thought we might take a sober view of the implications of Sunday's corrupt decision; a look at the ripples from that big boulder Boo and his buddies through into the cesspool that is now college football. I'm not gonna try and recount all the violations of facts, institutional integrity and traditions their actions exposed. There are too many. But I'll mention a few, then move on to the longterm implications and finally, a response.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee is composed of 13 individuals that are mostly AD's with extensive ties to the NCAA governance and administrative boards. All have football in their biographies in one form or another; one is a former AA and Walter Payton Man of the Year; even the only "professor" is really a journalist who wrote for the USA Today for 14 years and was the first female chair of the Football Writer's Association. There is a healthy sprinkling of individuals who represent the diversity interests of CF and a couple of individuals not employed by a university. Basically it looks like a typical committee formed by the NCAA or athletic conferences to oversee the interests of the members; you know, looks like a camel, but was suppose to be a horse. There are some interesting connections. e.g. if you're wondering why the committee found it so easy to ignore the Michigan cheating scandal, look no further than the fact that the U of M AD, Warde Manuel, is a member of the committee. How is the committee charged to select? Here's an excerpt (my emphasis italicized):
I'll pause a moment here while you let those words sink in. Sunday's decision is diametrically opposed to the tenants the organization says governs their actions. Every FSU regular season game accounted for nothing. Boo said the committee concluded that FSU was a different team without Jordan Travis. The longterm implications of this aspect of the decision are profound. That can't be better demonstrated than what Jordan himself said in his statement released in response to the announcement that FSU was out. He said, "I wish I had broken my leg earlier so everyone could see that this team is more than one person." Yup, Ole Boo and his boys disincentivized playing through pain and determination for your team because the reward might be to lose the opportunity to compete for the championship. Nicely done committee.
Clearly, the 2023 rankings ignored the head to head results, strength of schedule, conference championships won as it applies to FSU. What was honored was that an undefeated in the conference SEC Champion could not be excluded. Of course there was the little matter of Alabama losing a home game to non SEC Texas. So that had to be ignored or rationalized. No matter; we'll just invite them so we can have the possibility of a rematch. Oh wait! We're suppose to "avoid rematches of regular season games". Let's just pretend that doesn't apply since it can't happen until the final. Maybe no one will notice.
Ok enough of rehashing the mental judo done to get the results ESPN demanded. Let's look at some implications for the long term.
The ACC should be very wary of their "partnership" with ESPN. Despite Corrigan's position on the committee and representing the ACC, the ACC Championship in 2023 was dismissed as an inconvenience to the CFPSC. It was expendable to secure what the broadcast partner required. And that partner is also the the CFPSC's partner and the SECN's partner. I don't think that word "partner" means to ESPN what it means to Jim Phillips. One thing for sure ESPN isn't silent partner.
Speaking of Jim Phillips, he was one of there crucial votes that postponed the expansion of the CFP in 2023. If the expansion was in effect now and included all the NY 6 bowl games, isn't interesting that #5 FSU would be paired with #6 UGa in the OB; #7 v #9 in the Cotton; #10 v #11 in the Peach w/ #8 having to abide by current rules and play the non P5 representative Liberty. Essentially the committee created the playoff matches that would have appeared in the expanded format were it in place this year. How you like them apples, Mr. Phillips? Your conference lost out because you didn't play ball. Are you paying attention Boo?
So what's a likely outcome of the matchups? If Michigan wins the NC and the NCAA subsequently determines that the school lost institutional control of its cheating athletic department and HC, what does that do the the College Football Playoff Selection Committee's brand? Or what if Alabama 14-1 wins it all and you have a 14-0 FSU squad still standing. Can you say Corrupt Championship? How does the expanded CFP repair their brand as the new 12 team format will impact injuries, length of season and interrupts traditional rivalries? Just when they need maximum fan support, they self inflict a positionally mortal wound to the expanded playoff selection process.
Finally, the amount of money the broadcasters have invested comes at a price. They will call the shots on who is and who is not included going forward. Academia meet raw capitalism. The days of pretending that School Presidents and Chancellors are the arbiters of fairness and integrity are obliterated. That ripple will upend a number of ships in the end.
So what to do? Some have suggested boycott of the OB. Others encourage players to protest and opt out. A few even called for FSU to agree to play and not show up
. First we earned a bid to the Orange Bowl by winning on Saturday night. A loss would have likely put us in the Peach; maybe the Cotton or worse, the Fiesta against Liberty. The OB didn't snub us and you won't impact ESPN w/ a boycott; you'll only hurt FSU's longterm rations with the bowls which we are dependent on for an invitation. My uniformed take is, we are Florida State University. We have been confronted by snobs and elitist since we began playing male sports. As Bill McGrotha once wrote we didn't knock nicely to be admitted, we kicked the door in and took up a chair at the table. Coach Mike Norvell has rebuilt the program on the solid foundation of the tradition of the Unconquered Spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. They never surrendered. I suspect CMN will challenge his team to return and meet Georgia in the OB first for the sake of the other teammates. It would be a further crime if Darrell Jackson was unable to play with Fiske, Lovett, Verse and the rest of that defense. It would be similarly criminal if Rodemaker couldn't lead the offense of Coleman, Wilson, Benson, Smith, Washington and Bell. It's bad enough to be unable to play because illegal, deliberate shots to the head by a belly draggin' rival, but for that penalty to extended into the bowl game just seems too much. He'll urge them to return for the sake of their parents and fans and for Florida State's spirit. Finally let's finish for #13 and provide proof for his assertion that this team is more than one person. Let's make Boo explain how a one loss faux champion can be named over an undefeated P5 conference and OB champion who defeated the current defending NC.
Go Noles
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee is composed of 13 individuals that are mostly AD's with extensive ties to the NCAA governance and administrative boards. All have football in their biographies in one form or another; one is a former AA and Walter Payton Man of the Year; even the only "professor" is really a journalist who wrote for the USA Today for 14 years and was the first female chair of the Football Writer's Association. There is a healthy sprinkling of individuals who represent the diversity interests of CF and a couple of individuals not employed by a university. Basically it looks like a typical committee formed by the NCAA or athletic conferences to oversee the interests of the members; you know, looks like a camel, but was suppose to be a horse. There are some interesting connections. e.g. if you're wondering why the committee found it so easy to ignore the Michigan cheating scandal, look no further than the fact that the U of M AD, Warde Manuel, is a member of the committee. How is the committee charged to select? Here's an excerpt (my emphasis italicized):
OVERVIEW
The College Football Playoff (CFP) is a postseason event to determine college football’s national champion on the field, while emphasizing the significance of college football’s unique regular season where every game counts.RANKINGS
The selection committee ranks the teams based on the members’ evaluation of the teams’ performance on the field, using conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head results, and comparison of results against common opponents to decide among teams that are comparable.SELECTION COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES
- Rank the top 25 teams and assign the top four to Playoff Semifinal sites.
- Assign teams to selected New Year’s bowls.
- Create competitive matchups.
- Attempt to avoid rematches of regular-season games and repeat appearances in specific bowls.
- Consider geography.
I'll pause a moment here while you let those words sink in. Sunday's decision is diametrically opposed to the tenants the organization says governs their actions. Every FSU regular season game accounted for nothing. Boo said the committee concluded that FSU was a different team without Jordan Travis. The longterm implications of this aspect of the decision are profound. That can't be better demonstrated than what Jordan himself said in his statement released in response to the announcement that FSU was out. He said, "I wish I had broken my leg earlier so everyone could see that this team is more than one person." Yup, Ole Boo and his boys disincentivized playing through pain and determination for your team because the reward might be to lose the opportunity to compete for the championship. Nicely done committee.
Clearly, the 2023 rankings ignored the head to head results, strength of schedule, conference championships won as it applies to FSU. What was honored was that an undefeated in the conference SEC Champion could not be excluded. Of course there was the little matter of Alabama losing a home game to non SEC Texas. So that had to be ignored or rationalized. No matter; we'll just invite them so we can have the possibility of a rematch. Oh wait! We're suppose to "avoid rematches of regular season games". Let's just pretend that doesn't apply since it can't happen until the final. Maybe no one will notice.
Ok enough of rehashing the mental judo done to get the results ESPN demanded. Let's look at some implications for the long term.
The ACC should be very wary of their "partnership" with ESPN. Despite Corrigan's position on the committee and representing the ACC, the ACC Championship in 2023 was dismissed as an inconvenience to the CFPSC. It was expendable to secure what the broadcast partner required. And that partner is also the the CFPSC's partner and the SECN's partner. I don't think that word "partner" means to ESPN what it means to Jim Phillips. One thing for sure ESPN isn't silent partner.
Speaking of Jim Phillips, he was one of there crucial votes that postponed the expansion of the CFP in 2023. If the expansion was in effect now and included all the NY 6 bowl games, isn't interesting that #5 FSU would be paired with #6 UGa in the OB; #7 v #9 in the Cotton; #10 v #11 in the Peach w/ #8 having to abide by current rules and play the non P5 representative Liberty. Essentially the committee created the playoff matches that would have appeared in the expanded format were it in place this year. How you like them apples, Mr. Phillips? Your conference lost out because you didn't play ball. Are you paying attention Boo?
So what's a likely outcome of the matchups? If Michigan wins the NC and the NCAA subsequently determines that the school lost institutional control of its cheating athletic department and HC, what does that do the the College Football Playoff Selection Committee's brand? Or what if Alabama 14-1 wins it all and you have a 14-0 FSU squad still standing. Can you say Corrupt Championship? How does the expanded CFP repair their brand as the new 12 team format will impact injuries, length of season and interrupts traditional rivalries? Just when they need maximum fan support, they self inflict a positionally mortal wound to the expanded playoff selection process.
Finally, the amount of money the broadcasters have invested comes at a price. They will call the shots on who is and who is not included going forward. Academia meet raw capitalism. The days of pretending that School Presidents and Chancellors are the arbiters of fairness and integrity are obliterated. That ripple will upend a number of ships in the end.
So what to do? Some have suggested boycott of the OB. Others encourage players to protest and opt out. A few even called for FSU to agree to play and not show up
. First we earned a bid to the Orange Bowl by winning on Saturday night. A loss would have likely put us in the Peach; maybe the Cotton or worse, the Fiesta against Liberty. The OB didn't snub us and you won't impact ESPN w/ a boycott; you'll only hurt FSU's longterm rations with the bowls which we are dependent on for an invitation. My uniformed take is, we are Florida State University. We have been confronted by snobs and elitist since we began playing male sports. As Bill McGrotha once wrote we didn't knock nicely to be admitted, we kicked the door in and took up a chair at the table. Coach Mike Norvell has rebuilt the program on the solid foundation of the tradition of the Unconquered Spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. They never surrendered. I suspect CMN will challenge his team to return and meet Georgia in the OB first for the sake of the other teammates. It would be a further crime if Darrell Jackson was unable to play with Fiske, Lovett, Verse and the rest of that defense. It would be similarly criminal if Rodemaker couldn't lead the offense of Coleman, Wilson, Benson, Smith, Washington and Bell. It's bad enough to be unable to play because illegal, deliberate shots to the head by a belly draggin' rival, but for that penalty to extended into the bowl game just seems too much. He'll urge them to return for the sake of their parents and fans and for Florida State's spirit. Finally let's finish for #13 and provide proof for his assertion that this team is more than one person. Let's make Boo explain how a one loss faux champion can be named over an undefeated P5 conference and OB champion who defeated the current defending NC.Go Noles
