Paul Finebaum praised the College Football Playoff committee’s decision to select Alabama over Florida State in Sunday’s final rankings, despite the Seminoles registering an undefeated season and ACC title without star quarterback Jordan Travis.
With the committee’s decision, Alabama (12–1) became one of two teams (with Texas) previously ranked outside the top four to finish in the playoff field while FSU (13–0) became the only undefeated Power Five conference champion to be left out since the CFP four-team format began in 2014.
Although FSU’s absence from the CFP generated tons of reactions on social media, the ESPN personality believes the committee made the “right decision.”
“I felt Nick Saban put it best yesterday by beating Georgia,” Finebaum said during an ESPN appearance. “It wasn’t because it’s the SEC. It’s because the SEC champion [Alabama] beat the best team [Georgia] in the country, and the team that beat the SEC now-champion finished third [Texas]. That’s a really nice resumé.”
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Finebaum also took a jab at ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips’s statement released earlier Sunday afternoon about the committee’s decision to keep the Seminoles out of the top four, citing the 12-playoff format that will go into effect next season. Finebaum attributed Phillips as one of the reasons why the new format was not currently in place.
“I don’t mean to point fingers back at the ACC, but the ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips put out this manifesto earlier, outraged and unfathomable — I think was his word — but he was one of those three commissioners that joined that alliance a couple of years ago that really stopped the 12-team playoff from being in existence today,” Finebaum added. “It’s a little over the top and, quite frankly, it doesn’t matter because we have a system next year that suits what all the people are crying about.”
The CFP committee picked Florida State at No. 5 in the final rankings and the Seminoles will face Georgia (12—1) in the Orange Bowl at 4 p.m. ET on Dec. 30.
