Dave Hyde: Why not Florida State? It was ‘deserving’ but not one of four ‘best’ teams

If I was Florida State coach Mike Norvell, I’d say exactly what he did after being snubbed by the College Football Playoff selection committee. I’d put out a statement about being, “disgusted and infuriated.”

I’d talk about, “What was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the game.”

I’d mention our response to injury and how not inviting an undefeated team goes against the purpose of playing games and the larger message of sports.

“It’s a sad day for college football,’’ I’d say, just as he did.

But if I was a committee member, I’d vote exactly as it did.

I’d feel awful about it, too. But the NCAA didn’t charge the committee to vote for the most “deserving” four teams to make the playoff, which a 13-0 Florida State team would be.

The committee was asked to vote for the “best” four teams right now. That’s the real issue here. “Deserving” or “best.”

It’s not just that the committee perceives Florida State as a lesser team with quarterback Jordan Travis hurt. Look what Las Vegas did for its upcoming bowl game, making FSU a 14-point underdog against Georgia in the Orange Bowl.

That just shows how people see Florida State against tip-top competition. Just like the committee did.

There’s the continued problem with the playoff. It switched the debate over, “Who’s No. 1?” to “Who’s No. 5?” That will change next year when the playoff gets diluted to a 12-team bracket.

But two events conspired against Florida State:

1.Undefeated Texas Christian University made the playoff last year. It was considered a lesser, but deserving, team because of its undefeated season. It beat Michigan in the semifinal game in what some called the greatest upset in the playoff era. It was then drilled by Georgia, 65-7. The NCAA — and more importantly, television — didn’t want a repeat of that.

2. Florida State was locked in a 3-3 snoozer against Louisville in the third quarter of the ACC Championship on Saturday while Alabama was beating No. 1 Georgia. That confirmed the real problem with Florida State. It’s not the same team without its star quarterback.

That’s also the shame of this decision. Florida State doesn’t get to make a historic run and have a chance to pull an upset for the ages. The greatest stories in sports involve surprises. We don’t need to do chapter and verse on this from the ’69 New York Jets to the 1980 U.S. hockey team. Just remember the 1983 University of Miami’s upset of Nebraska to win its first national title.

The brushfire over the committee’s decision was fanned by its lack of transparency. Who voted? And how did they vote? Why not discuss what this really came down to? Why leave it to talk shows or the likes of Deion Sanders saying Alabama was voted in because Nick Saban is the “godfather of college football?” Program note: Alabama wasn’t voted in last season in a dust-up.

Florida State did everything asked. It played LSU in its opener. It overcame the loss of its star quarterback. It won every game. It now comes to the consolation prize of the Orange Bowl, which is the real winner in all of this. It went from an afterthought of a game to one that’s as interesting as the playoffs. Maybe more considering the storyline.

“I’m hurting for our players who have displayed a tremendous amount of resilience and response this season. What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football. A team that overcame tremendous adversity and found a way to win doing whatever it took on the field was cheated,” Norvell said.

I’d say that, too, if I was him.

I’d just grit my teeth and vote like the committee did, too.