Urban Meyer on College Football Playoff: Florida State 'got screwed,' but committee got it right

Urban Meyer, like most anyone else who follows college football, has spent most of the week pondering the College Football Playoff field and the exclusion of Florida State. And, like many, he’s of two minds when it comes to the issue.

Meyer, who himself coached Florida and Ohio State to national championships, understands how raw of a deal it is to keep a 13-0 Seminoles squad out. He even went so far as to say the Seminoles “got screwed,” but as much by the misfortune of a catastrophic injury to a key player at the wrong time as they did by the selection committee.

“I share the same thoughts as many people that Florida State: They got screwed. That was, their coach — I’ve met him a couple of times and he took over a really tough situation and they put together a great team,” Meyer said on “Urban’s Take with Tim May,” on Friday. “However, I do believe they got it right, because I watched them closely. And then I went back and watched the film, because a lot of times on TV you can’t really watch it. And they’re a completely different team without their quarterback. They ran wildcat a ton of times in that game and it just, it was a very clunky offense, it was — they’re not a great team without that quarterback. They’re a really good team, great defense. But Louisville was — it just didn’t look like a great game.”

Meyer contrasted what he saw of the Seminoles with the performance put on by Alabama against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.

And the Crimson Tide’s strong finish and elevated play, coupled with the fact Texas holds a head-to-head victory over Alabama, made it effectively impossible for Florida State to be included, in Meyer’s eyes.

“And then all of a sudden you’re watching Alabama-Georgia, you’re watching some of these other teams. I saw Texas up close and personal, to me they’re the best-looking team in college football. I think they’ve got the best roster. So, they beat Alabama. I made this point many, many times: Alabama could not have went in there ahead of Texas. You can’t do that. If that would’ve happened, every — I said this on TV, that I would’ve went in to see Gene Smith, if I was still coaching, and said ‘Get rid of all our non-conference, we’re playing Mid-America Conference schools.’ And ‘It doesn’t matter, because the committee doesn’t look at that.’ Head-to-head does matter. So I think they got it right,” Meyer said.

Ultimately, Meyer goes back to the tape and the teams he saw on the field in championship weekend. And by that measure, it was no contest — and the committee picked right in his eyes, even if it means Florida State got the short end of the stick.

“It’s an imperfect system. The way they do it, they have three coaches on the committee, those are the only people that really have that experience to watch the tape, to pick the four best teams. But I believe they got it right,” Meyer said. “Those are the four that I would’ve picked. And I watched — I wanted to make sure before I spoke — I watched all the tape on ’em, and those are the four best teams.”