- FSU will not play in the College Football Playoff despite a resume that historically has been enough to get in.
- The FSU and college football community were full of questions on the CFP committee process and why that decision was made.
- Watch now to hear coach Mike Norvell describe the feeling he had when he found out FSU was left out.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A perfect season spoiled by an imperfect system.
I'm Alberto Camargo in the Collegetown neighborhood.
Here by the FSU Legacy Walk, where all season fans felt like another National Champions plaque was destiny.
And why wouldn't they? 13 games and 13 wins.
But the Seminoles won't even get the chance to play for the national title.
And for things that were entirely out of their control.
Florida State was left out of the 4-team College Football Playoff, dropping to number 5, even though the Seminoles are one of just three undefeated teams left.
The committee's decision left fans, players and coaches asking... why?
ESPN analyst Greg McElroy told ABC News the Noles' fate might have been decided weeks ago.
"One of the criteria that the committee has used in the past is if a great player on your team is injured and unavailable, that can potentially affect how you're ranked."
One play against North Alabama that ended Jordan Travis' season... and according to the committee, FSU's too.
Committee chair Boo Corrigan said FSU was left out, in part, because its not the same team without Travis.
Coach Mike Norvell said when he found out, all he could think about were his players.
"It's one of the tougher moments I've had to experience, for all that they've done. You talk to a team about responding to adversity, getting up and going to give all that you can to find a way to win a college football game. Like Coach Smart said, it's hard".
A couple other factors in the decision were FSU's strength of schedule and recent performances, compared to Alabama and Texas, the teams that got in.
But the FSU community kept coming back to that undefeated record.
In a statement, FSU Athletics Director Michael Alford said the playoff committee "failed college football".
It's never happened before, an undefeated conference champion missing out on the playoff.
Norvell said his team is going to push forward... and keep climbing.
"Your true identity shows up in times of great adversity. We faced it, they put it on display."
While they did not make the playoffs - the team's season is not over just yet.
The Seminoles will play Georgia in the Orange Bowl on December 30. In Collegetown, I'm Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
