Finally, there is pure, unadulterated chaos in the rankings for the final College Football Playoff rankings. Florida State is the odd team out, making history as the first time in the College Football Playoff era that an undefeated conference power five conference champion remains on the outside looking in.
But there's been plenty of controversy from day one. Whether it was the result of the Big 12 not having a title game, the Covid-19 shortened season putting everyone on uneven ground, the Playoff Committee has never pleased everyone. Here are the six best teams snubbed from the College Football Playoff.
2023 Florida State
It's fresh. It's raw. It hurts Florida State fans. And for that, the college football world empathizes.
Leaving out this incredibly talented, if admittedly shorthanded, undefeated team in favor of Alabama is just another instance of the SEC getting favorable treatment from the committee. And in a sport where schools sue their conferences, the NCAA, and each other, truly anything could happen now.
Nothing moves the athletic budget like football, and everyone in Tallahassee must be absolutely seething. Texas lost to an Oklahoma team that didn't make the championship game, and Alabama lost to Texas! And they were ranked No. 8 a week prior! What is the logic there? Sorry, Seminoles fans.
2021 Notre Dame
Notre Dame's historical independence has come back to bite them a couple of times during the College Football Playoff era. Perhaps none more here.
Due to their independent schedule, the Fighting Irish only played one ranked team during their 2021 season, losing to undefeated (and No. 4 overall) Cincinnati. They took care of business throughout their relatively softer schedule and ended up finishing the season 11-1.
However, because they had no championship game, they couldn't make a claim to SEC runners-up Georgia's No. 3 spot due to the Bulldog's better schedule. So this snub is kind of on Notre Dame. And who knows, maybe Brian Kelly would've stayed with a playoff berth.
2020 Texas A&M
The 2020 season was a strange year for college football. Not everyone played the same amount of games. Heck, 6-0, Ohio State made it into the playoffs and won their semifinal. However…they only played six games.
Did they deserve to make it over a team like Texas A&M, who managed to get nine games in and only lost to the number one overall team in Alabama? Not to mention a huge win over No. 7 Florida, the best win any team not named Alabama or Clemson had going into the playoff. The committee would never please everybody in 2020, but Texas A&M has to feel hard done by.
2020 Cincinnati
Speaking of teams feeling hard done in 2020, how about the #8 9-0 Cincinnati Bearcats? That is a rough break to pull off that kind of season in a shortened and weird year.
The committee elected to reward an undefeated 6-0 team but left out a 9-0 team. And the Bearcats had some quality wins, including a Tulsa team featured in the final edition of the playoff rankings. It wasn't meant to be this year. But the year after, Cinncinati broke through into the College Football Playoff, even if they didn't fare as much as they hoped.
2018 Ohio State
2018 was a rough year to make the playoffs. There were three undefeated teams and two one-loss conference champions. Ohio State missed the cut. They lost out to 12-1 Oklahoma. Ohio State's lone loss was to Purdue, in blowout fashion. Oklahoma's only loss was to Texas in the Red River Rivalry.
Purdue was a middling team and an uncharacteristic bump on an otherwise perfect season. But it was enough to keep Ohio State out of the playoff, and Oklahoma beat them out for the last spot.
2014 Baylor
The original sin of the College Football Playoff era. The 11-1 Baylor Bears, elected co-champions with a team they beat, left out of the playoff after conference championship weekend, where they stayed at home and waited. That team was electric.
They scored 48 points per game and beat three ranked teams, including the #6 TCU team they were co-champs with. However, one more win over TCU would've put them over the top. The committee established a precedent that winning a conference championship game was a critical component of any playoff team's resume.
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