FSU: Injuries Count
Some people are amazed when the Committee does exactly what it said it would do. The Committee’s own procedures say it must consider injuries. (The basketball committee does that too.) In contrast, there is nothing that says an undefeated P5 champ must be in the top four. I grieve for Florida State, but after its starting QB went down it simply has not been the same team.
Some in the media were arguing that Washington should leapfrog Michigan, because its win over Oregon “looked better” than Michigan’s slog over Iowa. But the Committee had Michigan consistently above Washington starting in Week 9, when Michigan still had not played Penn State, Ohio State, or Iowa. There was no way the same people who ranked them in that order were going to change their minds after Michigan handled Iowa 26–0.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:12 PM ^
Games matter or they don't. This says they don't, the committee will just make shit up to get the teams they want in.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:14 PM ^
Cmon now. When they were about to reveal 4 v 5, you were like every one of us… hoping like heck it would be FSU. And when you saw the crimson A, you were like, crap, we got a way harder game.
And that is the bylaw of the Committee… four “best” teams. This was a NO brainer.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:21 PM ^
Bama is better than Washington and probability better than Texas right now even though they lost to them early on. Bama is probably better than Michigan right now give the state of our offensive line. Bama will thunderfuck Henderson, Jones and Barnhart and grind their bones to make their bread. Their strength is our weakness. We'll give up at least some points because they have a bodybuilder at QB who can run a 4.4. Our Offense will struggle unless JJ can come with his A+ game. We can win if JJ plays his best. The best teams in College football are probably Michigan Bama OSU and Georgia if You're gonna go by the beauty pageant eye test standard. The committee picks who they want not who the best is or who the most deserving is.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:23 PM ^
So Auburn and Arkansas are better than Oregon? The same auburn team that lost to a d3 team two weeks ago?
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:28 PM ^
Wrong. Bama's best game may be great, but one great game is not the measure of a team which is why this is bullshit.
They lost to Auburn a week ago who decided they preferred a loss after a 99.9 percent win probability. Bama did not beat a 6-6 team. They lost and then got a gift.
The CFP should not be a competition of whose best game do you want to see..
If it was then UGA should be back in as well. They hammered Ole Miss and others and looked good doing so..
It's not about best game and therefore it's about consistency and greatness. FSU earned the chance to prove it on the field and were denied by WARDE (Fuck him for life now) and the chairman who happened to be the AD at NC State who cast the deciding vote to add Cal and Stanford against the wishes of FSU and Clemson for which FSU then started publicly stating their intentions to leave the ACC for more money. This vote against FSU was a middling ACC program keeping FSU's brand value down to make it harder for them to leave the conference.
This vote was Sparty picking Ohio against UM in '73 due to a QB injury and saying there was no other motive than best team. And Warde smiled. This committee is inherently biased and corrupt. The teams should be ranked by the AP as they have so many voters across the country thereby reducing regional bias interference.
You wanna be the best you gotta beat the best. No more excuses. Just finish what you started. BET.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:51 PM ^
Jesus. Do you know which team Warde voted for, or campaigned for ... or why?
I get it. You hate our athletic director — the one who oversaw a back-to-back-to-back Big Ten champion football team — and enjoy every single opportunity to spew vile at him.
But that's bullshit. He's on the Committee. He's not the Committee. Calm the fuck down.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:12 PM ^
Wrong.
I have backed Warde on this board and everywhere else until this moment against all the Warde haters. At this point I see him adding nothing to fairness or to the defense of our brand. I'm all in against him now though.
And Warde was smiling in the CFP room this morning on the show. I don't need to know how he voted now. I know he's comfortable with what happened and that's enough.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:39 PM ^
It's a wiggly world.
Are we not men?
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:55 PM ^
I felt FSU earned a spot in the playoff, but that's just my opinion on how the vote should have come out.
But, why the vitriol against Warde?
Do we even know how he voted or what arguments he put forth during the Committee discussions?
This doesn't seem to be the issue to put at Warde's door.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
That was my defense against all Warde hating the past three years as well. It was always never his issue or fault. I'm with Brian and the rest of the writers. He adds nothing and nothing is ever his fault is always the defense because it was somebody else's job. Well at this point he's getting paid a hell of a lot as AD when nothing is his job and no organization with a problem or a committee he serves on is not his responsibility. I know your arguments. They were mine for years defending him as well. He would've smiled in that room politicking if they fucked M after a JJ injury too. I believe that much now. I believe he puts himself first and M and fairness second and third by sizeable margins.
I'm done with him.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^
I hope there is an MGoBlog Unhinged Ranting Hall of Fame, because your posts in this thread definitely belong in a museum.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:51 PM ^
Agreed, this was petty little bro, or what I now call Pettiti Bro politics to keep one of their members in line. When combined with the pervasive Esssss-Eeeee-Ceee bias of it just means and more and this is what you get. Guess the commitee didn’t consider the early Xmas present that Auburn gift wrapped for ‘Bama, a team that always is lobbying for themselves no matter the circumstance. Look Bama is a great team but what you do on the field should count or why even bother playing the games. The thing is that there is usually no conflict between best and most deserving. They are most often one and the same. Now we will have to go out and see if we can beat the brakes off ‘Bama to show that according to the other logic that we are the best team and they are just the most “deserving” because they are from the SEC. Would love to get them up to A2 for a nice cold game in December and see how well they play.
December 3rd, 2023 at 7:31 PM ^
And it is nice to be both one of the best four and one of the most deserving :) Congratulations us!
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:29 PM ^
I wanted Georgia to win so bad, simply so that Michigan could beat them on the way to winning it all. Alabama is a fine consolation prize. I don't want anyone saying Michigan had an easy road, especially after everything that's been going. I don't want people like Pete Finebaum saying Michigan didn't play an SEC team on its way to a title and therefore, they have an asterisk. Michigan can beat Bama. They absolutely can. None of us should be afraid. The team certainly won't be.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
I don't give a flying fuck about what Pete Finebaum says and neither should you.
December 3rd, 2023 at 3:33 PM ^
I was just about to say the exact same thing. Pete Finebaum is a useless hack whose opinion is about as valuable as the average morning #2. Coincidentally, what comes out of his mouth is the same material.
December 3rd, 2023 at 5:34 PM ^
Please do not devalue my morning constitutional.
December 3rd, 2023 at 4:44 PM ^
I don't give a flying fuck about what Pete Finebaum says and neither should you.
Yeah that's a nice platitude, but people tend to care when media types with a national platform and regional biases are talking shit about their teams. It's okay to give a FF. I typically don't care what Finebaum says in the normal course of a CFB season. He plays to a base. I get it. But when he perpetuates the idea that Michigan wins are and continue to be tainted, it's an opportunity to poke holes in the narrative. While beating Alabama won't change his mind, his nonsense will be recognized more broadly as nonsense in the aftermath of a Michigan win over Bama,
December 3rd, 2023 at 6:03 PM ^
Precisely my line of thought. It's about further discrediting the ideas of Pete and his ilk. That's what it means to win this season, above all other seasons.
December 3rd, 2023 at 3:13 PM ^
I don’t care either. If we beat Bama and Georgia on the way to the championship he would be talking about signgate and how we cheated or find some other reason to reduce us. Win it all whoever we play and that’s all that matters.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:19 PM ^
Unfortunately true. The whole team groaned when they saw Alabama. The run was fun. Michigan is going to lose. Would be a pleasant shock if they won, but this offense can’t even sustain a drive against Iowa.
No the Big Ten West isn’t better than the SEC.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:25 PM ^
Yep. They have 3 offensive lineman that are 6'5" and 360 lbs. Everyone is pointing out the close games, but Bama out gained Auburn and Arkansas by A LOT. They were lucky to be close to Bama. Milroe also didn't play. They were young early on but they're probably the best team in the country. Bama will win the Natty.
December 3rd, 2023 at 4:45 PM ^
Those massive lines - OL and DL - have been the staple of great Alabama teams plus their QB (Milroe?) is really coming on. But, with all of that said, UM opens as a 2-point favorite
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:55 PM ^
Michigan will have a month to repair the hole in the offensive line left by Zinter. They've got the talent and the best O-lone coach in the country. I'm not concerned about that.
We do need JJ to heal up, though.
December 3rd, 2023 at 4:18 PM ^
I don’t get this “they groaned”. I saw the video and it sounded more like surprise to me than “uh oh”
December 3rd, 2023 at 7:38 PM ^
Yes-that "groan" narrative is a false one. I cannot imagine that this team is not chomping at the bit and very, very pleased to get to play Alabama. There are no 'warm-up games" in the CFP.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:24 PM ^
My issue is that Alabama sucked most of the year and pulled off a nice win yesterday. Literally a week ago they needed a 4th and 31 miracle/coaching malpractice to beat an incredibly mediocre Auburn team led by Payton Thorne. Earlier they should have lost to a BAD Arkansas team. They lost by two scores at home to Texas. The SEC in general lost its head to head series with the ACC.
Alabama got in because the SEC gets an insane margin for error that invalidates the actual results on the field. FSU was and is a better team.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:29 PM ^
If that’s your honest opinion, be glad Michigan got an easier matchup. I don’t believe for a second anyone on this board would rather play Alabama than FSU right now though.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:56 PM ^
Trial by combat makes sense in what world? So if we throw Rosa off the bus, we are good? One loss does not an undefeated season beat, especially given the loss at home. This is no flea kicker - it's bullshit. No outcome is going to fix this. Alabama had a chance to win at home and didn't that is what they should be thinking about.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:59 PM ^
You want them to hold a Week 2 loss against Alabama but ignore the loss of FSU’s QB and the difference that has made on their team simply because they didn’t lose with a terrible SOS…
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:18 PM ^
I hear you... I think games matter more than the line.
I want to spend money on games that matter. If that Texas game didn't matter why did they play it. Anybody can get injured at any time. Who knows who is going to show up on Jan1. Alabama lost by multiple scores at home. It takes away from Michigan's accomplishment to play them. Alabama has nothing to lose that they haven't lost already.
Let's just stop the clock at the end of the 3rd quarter. Boom Alabama wins 16-13 and it's all fixed. Let's just play 3 quarters... we can get another game played every Saturday with the time savings.
I love playing Alabama btw. They don't deserve it, which makes them harder to beat, and all the better. Texas is the only pseudo - SEC team with a legit bid (it would have been sweet for the SEC to get that memo.) I got another memo for them.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:31 PM ^
The flip side is if you’re going to punish teams for playing tough schedules and dropping a game, but not penalize teams for playing weaker schedules then there is also no reason to play it. Does Bama go undefeated with FSU’s schedule?
December 3rd, 2023 at 7:52 PM ^
What we think doesn't matter, but there is no way FSU loses to Texas by two scores at home. That is what I think. In fact, they win that game. But who am I, I thought Georgia was better than Alabama (and 6 out of 10 - I think they win that game.)
It's not about what you think would have happened or will happen. It is about what did happen.
Both FSU and Bama played LSU tight. I don't know, other than Georgia, who we are talking about here. If JJ goes down... I still like Mich Orjicatting all over Bama. Teams win games, not QBs. I guess we just feel differently.
When a player goes down, you call different plays, you don't think about what would have happened. Seems like people don't want to give FSU a chance to call those plays. That is wrong. Suppose DG doesn't play with a broken toe vs. Ohio? I don't like to think that way too often. People deserve their swings in life for the most part. It is what makes football fun.
December 4th, 2023 at 5:34 AM ^
FSU has had two weeks to call those plays and we’ve seen what that looks like.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:27 PM ^
Bama outgained Arkansas 415 to 250. They have monsters on the OL. Auburn and those other teams were all outgained. They were lucky to keep it close
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:26 PM ^
I'd rather play Alabama than Georgia, though. So should Georgia have gotten in rather than Bama?
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:31 PM ^
That’s where “deserving” matters. It’s the best four teams that deserve to get in. You have 5 P5 conference champions with 0 or 1 loss. That’s your field of candidates. Who are the best of that field? I don’t see the argument for a Travis-less FSU there
December 3rd, 2023 at 4:49 PM ^
Not only without Travis but also their backup QB yesterday - they looked terrible with their 3rd QB. I will say this though, FSU has a rock-solid defense......one of the best in the country
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:16 PM ^
Everything now will be justification. But your achievement over the course of the year needs to mean something. There may be five other teams surging late in the year, coming off injuries, getting better. We are one that may suffer missing several players. No one will cry for us if we lose to Alabama.
The truth is that the committee had never left out a P5 division championship winner. Justify how you or anyone may, FSU was scrod.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^
dpost
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^
If you take your definition of “the best teams” to its natural end point then the first half of the season doesn’t matter. This application of the “best team” definition, based on “at the at of the season”, just allows the committee to call audibles and selectively ignore whatever they want. In this case they included Texas’ win over Bama but ignored Bama’s loss and lucky wins.
Alabama is not even a top 6 team throughout the season. They lost at home by a wide margin. The almost lost to an FCS school and needed devine intervention to beat Auburn.
Oregon, Ohio, Georgia, and FSU are all better throughout the season. If each of those teams had to play Bama now (including a rematch) Bama would lose 3/4 on average
Alabama is also not a top 5 team at the end of the season. Ohio and Georgia are arguably better. The difference is those teams lost their last game. And who knows relative to FSU, all the committee did was factor in “SEC” to make a decision.
The committee made a BS decision. FSU won and you have to move them up. Jordan Travis is not the team. They beat Louisville with their 3rd string QB. Who knows what they could do with their 2nd string QB. Bama and Ohio won it all with 2nd string QBs. The committee does not have a crystal ball for what might happen going forward.
The Big10 did the same thing to Michigan in 1973 and unfairly sent Ohio to the rose bowl even though Michigan was clearly the better team but our QB broke his collarbone.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
It’s the entire body of work. You have to have the resume to get to the point of consideration, but the committee also isn’t going to ignore who is actually going to be on the field in the CFP itself.
A 12-1 SEC Champ that just beat the #1 team HAS the resume to be in consideration. Losing to a fellow playoff team in week 2 doesn’t change that aspect. You generate a field of teams to consider and you break down their entire body of work, INCLUDING who would be playing in the playoff game for each team.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:46 PM ^
Keep telling yourself whatever you have to. People know right and wrong and I bet you do too. This system is and has ALWAYS been a fraud, a scam. It's an invitational, not a playoff. And just because we benefit from it does not mean we can't be truthful about it.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:48 PM ^
You really think Michigan benefits from playing Alabama with Nick freakin’ Saban having 4 weeks to gameplan for us compared to playing Florida State without Jordan Travis?
Come on now. I’d MUCH rather FSU got in. But the committee didn’t make the wrong decision.
December 3rd, 2023 at 2:38 PM ^
We're at 1st, n OSU ain't.
December 3rd, 2023 at 3:54 PM ^
By that logic Ohio State and Georgia are both probably better teams than Washington. Better put them in and take the Huskies out.
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:27 PM ^
Was this taken before of after Finebaum swallowed?
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:29 PM ^
Ewwwww! My eyes...
December 3rd, 2023 at 1:43 PM ^
For the next month we’ll hear Finebaum denigrate Michigan every day. He’ll talk about how Michigan shouldn’t even be eligible, he’ll bring up “recruiting violations” - while never mentioning an $ 800K OV by Texas, and of course - the quietness of the allegations with Stalions - will come back to the top of his daily monologue.
And, of course, we’ll hear of Bama’s greatness - and Saban’s description of his “team”. The first time I heard Saban focus on “the team” was after their game yesterday.