If Georgia Had Beaten Bama, Does FSU Make the CFP?

Yes. They do. 

If you don't think the bias is real and this was a terrible decision for college football, ponder this scenario: If the shoe were on the other foot and FSU was 11-1 while Alabama was undefeated but with an injured star QB - does Alabama get left out in favor of FSU? No way. 

I saw a really glib quote from Saban in a WP article in which he says about Florida State 'Oh well, somebody had to get left out'. That's coming from a guy who made a spectacle of himself whining to anyone who would listen (ESPN gave him multiple platforms to do so) that his 2-loss team deserved to make the playoff last year. Get outta here. 

It sucks for Florida State and it's a shitty draw for a #1 overall Michigan who is now matched up against a team that is better positioned to pull the upset. But fuck it - GO TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AND KICK THE SHIT OUT OF THEM. 

I thought the same thing......this was always about making sure the SEC was represented and not the four "best" teams.  I truly beleive if Georgia had won it would have been 1) Georgia 2) Michigan 3) Washington 4) FSU.....

Yes, because then Georgia would get a sacrificial lamb in FSU, which is how the SEC rolls.

I'm in agreement that FSU would have been picked if not for Bama beating Georgia. 

I do think a few arguments are being missed, and there were 5 deserving teams this year.

On the Alabama side, they had a loss because they scheduled a non-conference Top 10 team and lost while going undefeated in their conference.  Overall it's better not to punish teams for scheduling good non-conference games.  FSU also did and beat a preseason top 10 SEC team in the non-conference (that turned out to be overrated, shocking).

The big argument is that FSU should have been picked over Alabama based on overall performance throughout the season, not one game.  Alabama underperformed for a top 5 team in the majority of their games this year, especially Texas, Auburn, Arkansas, Texas A&M and South Florida.

Now on FSU, the ACC is a sub-par conference, and they didn't play anyone currently in the Top 10 this year.  Is it better to go 1-1 against Top 10 teams or 0-0?  LSU, Louisville and Duke wins are your resume.  Not impressed. 

Whats worse is that if Alabama had lost and not pulled off the miracle against Auburn, but had still beaten Georgia.  What would have happened in my opinion is:

1. Michigan

2. Washington

3. Georgia

4. Florida State

Look at this ranking, 12-1 Georgia would be 3 here and above Florida state even though that is the same record as what happened in reality.  And Florida state is rated higher than Texas in this hypothetical.  Because Texas Beat Alabama the buck stopped with Florida State instead of Texas.  They had the rankings set up so that they could leave Texas out but when Alabama won they had to drop Florida state.  They tried to hide their intentions but this made it abundantly clear that teh SEC was getting in no matter what and they would fit the teams around it to do it.  

Nope, I think they slot in Texas at 4 anyway.  I know there's this idea about SEC bias but they put Texas 3 and I don't think that's math changes in their eyes.  They seemed to have set their mind up when Travis got hurt and just waited for someone to take the onus off them.

Great question. Given what the committee said to justify keeping them out, all the same reasons would still apply if UGA had won. 

I do think if Georgia had won, then Texas is out and FSU in because: Texas' win over Bama would have slightly less value, and the committee doesn't have to address the "you can't put 1 loss Alabama in and not the 1 loss team that beat them."

Good question - and, IMO - it would have been "very easy" for the CFP Selection Committee to select FSU.  I believe there would have been four  (4) undefeated P5 Champs.  

That would have been a very tough scenario for Texas - however, it would certainly have been the path of least resistance for the CFP Selection Committee.

Doubt it. I think you just switch Alabama with Georgia, and then Georgia is #1 and Michigan is #2. 

That QB injury argument, whether its valid or not, doesn't go away with a Georgia win. 

This Stupidity is why there should only be a CFP Ranking AFTER ALL THE GAMES ARE DONE. 

There are still AP and Coaches Polls to use to hype up games but by making it a 4-week drama you get the "leapfrogging" and dropping and whatnot. 

If they just revealed the CFP teams at the end, no one would know the changes in their thinking (if they do any) from week to week as teams go through their final games.

I get it that they just want to make $$ by having the CFP ranking on everyone's lips between Tuesdays and give pundits something to debate but they'll still have plenty to debate.

I'd also argue that initial rankings of teams (AP and Coach) should not come out until every team has played one conference game.  A team that is Preseason #1 has a very hard time dropping very far and one that starts unranked has a tough time rising very far.  The whole beauty contest approach to rankings when there are many different computer models which are opponent-adjusted and not biased by "the eye test" is stupid.  

Texas is future SEC, so they were in no matter what. It's how it works right now.

The reason Texas got in is because they needed to put a SEC team in, and Texas beat Bama.  If Georgia wins, no need to out Texas in, so FSU gets is in.  FSU got screwed by SEC bias, even though they beat 2 SEC teams this year.

Yes. Chalk holds. FSU is in. The problem with Georgia losing is you either put Bama in at 4 and upset Texas fans, or you leave the SEC out and upset the entire SEC. FSU is a small school with a fairly small fan base and the rest of the ACC isn't going to bat for them. So, by leaving FSU out, you upset the least number of people. Sure, the rest of the country is going to complain, but not enough to make anyone's life miserable. 

Yes.

We are witness to the most corrupt, cheating association in the history of college sports. And that's saying a lot.

yup. would have been easy to go chalk

Yes, including 4 unbeaten conf champions would’ve been easy call. Then Texas is out and their win over Alabama is not so compelling.

With Georgia loss, there were 5 deserving conf champions for 4 spots. It was hard to rationalize Alabama over Texas, so FSU was deemed #5. 

This year there was 5 or 6 or even 7 teams that were hard to parse through. Sucks to be FSU. 12-team format should have other issues but leaving out a worthy team should be very much less likely.

Probably FSU would have got in if Georgia won, but in the long run the Big 10/SEC is going to have an advantage over the ACC/Big 12.  The era of two super conferences is already here. The ACC and Big 12 are rapidly becoming closer to the group of five than they are to the Big 10/SEC. I know people are saying that the 12-team playoff will fix this but, in the end, it will heavily favor the two remaining power conferences. 

I suspect in a typical year the 12-team playoff will consist of one ACC, one Big 12, one group of five and 9 teams from the SEC and Big 10.  Then we will have a year where the ACC/Big 12 champ is worse than some Big Ten/SEC school who got left out and they will move to call the rest of the conferences the group of 7 and only give them one bid.

Look at the money.  Big Ten and SEC schools are going to get double what the ACC and Big 12 schools are getting.  They also are going to get a bunch of playoff cash each year when each conference gets 3 to 5 teams in the playoffs while the ACC gets one. Despite our disagreements with the current Big Ten commissioner, it’s a great thing we are in the conference we are in. Teams that can't get in the Big Ten or SEC are doomed to play in the minor leagues of college football.  

Yes, because it would have been 1) G, 2) M, 3) W, 4) FSU.  The easiest path for the SEC is the way of the CFP.

Yes. 4 unbeaten champions.

Yes. It would have been Georgia, Michigan, Washington, FSU. 4 undefeated conference champs. But since Alabama won, the committee was obligated to do as much mental gymnastics as possible to get the SEC champ in. And yes if Alabama lost to Auburn, they would still be in.

Probably, because they would already have their SEC team in.  That's their priority

Absolutely they do.

Texas was a package deal with Alabama with the ONLY must being an SEC team gets in. 

FSU was ready ot be gift wrapped for Georgia but nope now Texas is amazingly better than FSU. And for all the ESPN/SEC slappies the CFP committee told you last week with FSU 4th Texas 7th thinking Georgia would be number 1. 

Disgusting. From the people that brought you "Of course UM cant get a rematch vs OSU losing to number 1 on the road by 3" but also "Of course the LSU/Bama rematch is happening." Its a joke and all these board supporters of Bama should be ashamed. 

Similar what if question, I wonder how the CFP would have looked if Bama didn't complete a 4th and 31 pass against Auburn, but still turned around and beat Georgia (and everything else happened the same).

The cynic in me believes that it would have been Michigan, Washington, Texas and Georgia in that scenario.

Play the traditional bowl games, then select the 4 playoff teams. Everyone gets their extra money and two teams play an extra game 

Yes and/or no and/or we'll never know.

Pretty sure they would. They couldn't include bama without Texas, they couldn't leave the sec out