Dear Florida State University Fans,
I know it’s been a crazy week since the college football playoff was announced Sunday morning. But as a lifelong fan, allow me to be unbiased and be a voice of reason. Please don’t take this the wrong way by any measures. This will be worthwhile in reading and understanding how important this season is going to fuel us in 2024.
First off, 2023 was a season of hope; to go undefeated and win the ACC Title for the first time since the 2013-14 season. It’s been a lot of dark days with a turnstile of head coaches. I want to shed light on head coach Mike Norvell. He’s built this program back into being on a national stage. In just a short time, this was his most successful season in his tenure. Do you want to take away what he accomplished by throwing the spear? It’s not worth your energy to say he didn’t win games convincingly.
We can’t refute how bad the ACC was in 2023; considering FSU and Louisville won at least 10 games. North Carolina State won 9 games, whereas everybody won under 8 games. Not to mention, our strength of schedule was 55th in the country. We play the schedule given and let the chips fall as they may. In this case, we were left out of the playoff. Now…here’s where the optics of being unbiased come into play. Going undefeated is something to be happy about. Would you have won 6 games and fought for a bowl game? Or win double-digit games and be in the thick of a playoff spot? You can’t be too prideful and say, “the committee speared us.”
We all know once quarterback Jordan Travis went down with a gruesome lower leg injury, our title hopes were gone. This was the first domino to go against us. The agony of defeat started there, but we didn’t fold. The ACC title game didn’t help our case in playing our third string quarterback. A defensive battle, we won the title outright; but…a lot was working against us. Once the announcement was made, I wasn’t shocked or surprised. I know the die-hard fans were spewing and players felt the spear thrown into their hearts.
Let’s be logical: the committee looked at personnel and coaching which plays a role in making these decisions. Alabama had a tougher schedule, which was the 6th in the nation based on strength. Far more superior programs in the SEC vs ACC. The committee wasn’t going to make the same mistakes three years in a row. Remember Cincinnati went undefeated and got embarrassed in the playoff? How about TCU’s blowout loss in the National Championship against the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs?
All of this played a factor to which none of us should be complaining. You can bicker and argue over it, but I didn’t lose sleep trying to rack my brain. It’s about revenue and giving college football fans the best programs to play for it all. What I will say though is we should be thankful for a New Year’s Six bowl game against SEC runner-up Georgia. Be thankful we had a great season and will have a chance to squeeze oranges in South Florida as we will play in the Orange Bowl.
Don’t let the overshadowing of missing out on the playoff takeaway our great season. If you’re still spewing and bickering, I don’t have any sympathy for you. I’m giving my unbiased take and a voice of reason to bring peace to a turbulent storm. You may say “I’m not a real fan,” but I’m a realist who brings perspectives. When the playoff expands to 12 teams in 2024, rest assured we’ll be in the mix regardless. 2023 Seminoles brought the swagger back and we had a season of hope.
Next season there will be expectations to win it all; no matter how we get there. Win the games on our schedule in dominating fashion. No room for error whatsoever. Florida State Seminoles fans don’t spear one another trying to make sense of this. Iron sharpens iron and we will get through this like true fans should. As the mantra goes: “KEEP CLIMBING!”
Stai tuned…
