Jimbo Fisher’s team is undefeated, but behind one-loss Oregon. (USATSI) The College Football Playoff Rankings seemingly had something to say about Florida State’s 2014 season-to-date Tuesday night, dropping the unbeaten Seminoles from No. 2 to No. 3 behind once-beaten Oregon.
That slip does nothing to change Florida State’s playoff status, of course — the Seminoles will be comfortably in if they run the table and very likely out if they take a loss, just as they were before the rankings were announced. But Jimbo Fisher said Wednesday that he still wasn’t thrilled with the message the committee was “trying to send.”
“I always thought the name of the game was to keep winning,” Fisher said, per the Orlando Sentinel. “I don’t know what [message] they’re trying to send or what’s trying to go on.”
Fisher suggested the Seminoles’ were being held to the standards of the 2013 national championship team, which routed opponents on a weekly basis. The 2014 team, however, has covered the Vegas spread only twice in nine games, and one of those victories came after falling behind Louisville 21-0.
“You don’t win games like we did last year,” Fisher said. “No one has done it 68 years.”
Fisher said he would not begin running up the score to impress the committee. “I’m going to hold the integrity of the game higher than everyone else,” he said.
In the end, it doesn’t much matter even if Florida State or Oregon finish No. 2 or No. 3, much less which one is second in mid-November; the only advantage granted would be the higher-seeded team being the nominal “home” squad with the uniforms and sideline to match that designation. All the same, the flip-flop between the Ducks and Seminoles is the clearest indication yet the committee is taking more than mere wins and losses into account — and even if Oregon’s promotion remains highly questionable (is Arizona really so good a home loss to the Wildcats can be so easily canceled out?), that’s probably a good thing.
Probably.
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