Robert Griffin claims CFP committee 'screwed' Florida State: 'You don't punish the 100 guys because one guy is not there'
In the final College Football Playoff Rankings, Florida State was ranked fifth. That means the Seminoles will miss the Playoff, despite going unbeaten and winning the ACC. It was a controversial move that’s led to a massive reaction, including from injured star quarterback Jordan Travis.
For his part, former quarterback and current analyst Robert Griffin III agrees with Travis and Florida State. He thinks the Seminoles were ‘screwed’ by the selection committee.
“I’m 100 percent in agreement with Jordan Travis,” Griffin said. “The bottom line is that the committee, they don’t pick the best four teams. They pick the best four teams that they can justify putting into the College Football Playoff based off a set of criteria that they get to, and in this case, they screwed Florida State. They’re the first Power Five undefeated conference champion to not get into the College Football Playoff.”
The common logic as to why Florida State got left out is that the Seminoles are without their star quarterback and the offense is bad without him. However, Griffin thinks that’s a hypocritical argument when compared to the top-ranked team, Michigan.
“This is a team that had more yards in their conference championship game than Michigan had in their conference championship game. So, if we’re talking about offenses, why aren’t we talking about Michigan in this situation?” Griffiin said. “For me, with Florida State, what it comes down to is you don’t punish the 100 guys because one guy is not there. Look at what this defense did in the ACC Championship Game. Dominant. Seven sacks. Braden Fiske, I think he had 3.5 sacks. Talking about Jared Verse. They stepped up to the plate. They stepped up their level of play and went and won a rivalry game against Florida, and then went and beat a top-15 team in Louisville.”
Ultimately, Griffin says that the selection committee took the path of least resistance, not the path that he thinks is the best.
“So, for the committee to punish them because they don’t have their quarterback at this point, doesn’t make much sense to me and they did it, in my opinion, because it was the path of least resistance,” Griffin said.
Jordan Travis releases statement after Florida State misses College Football Playoff
Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis released a statement after the decision to snub the Seminoles was announced. In it, he wished he broke his leg earlier in the season and apologized.
“devastated. heartbroken,” Travis wrote. “In so much disbelief rn, I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!”