Florida State football still could claim to be No. 1. Here's how | D'Angelo
DANIA BEACH — Florida State players and coaches are attempting to make the best of an unwanted situation.
They are being asked to say all the right things about the opportunity to face Georgia on Saturday in the Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium. It's a game many have dubbed the Consolation Bowl pairing the first two teams not chosen for the College Football Playoff.
They are trying to overcome that disappointment along with losing 12 starters, and more than 25 players overall, for various reasons ranging from injury to the transfer portal, to opt-outs for a game that, to a man, each would have admitted one month ago would mean a very unsatisfying ending to the season.
And FSU is doing as good a job spewing all those talking points as it did handling every opponent on its schedule on the way to a 13-0 season that culminated with a defense-dominated victory over Louisville in the ACC Championship.
Memo to committee: Defense matters, too.
"This is an opportunity to respond to what life is sometimes," guard D'Mitri Emmanuel said. "Sometimes things don't go your way."
The exact quote you would expect from a man in his seventh season of college football.
This team, no matter how stung by a CFP committee that made a sham of the playoff system, does have something to play for, despite more than 30% of the players saying "peace out" to the postseason.
"The last month has been really challenging," coach Mike Norvell said.
Florida State is the first undefeated Power Five conference champion to be shunned by the committee, which means it is the first P5 school not in the four-team playoff to have the chance to finish undefeated.
And that means the Seminoles still have a chance to fly a banner that says "2023 National Champions."
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If FSU is the lone remaining undefeated P5 team at the end of the playoffs, there is an avenue to landing at the top of at least one poll. And that would give the university every right to hang that banner, receive the key to the city of Tallahassee and even pull a UCF and be honored at a parade down Main Street at Disney World.
Well, maybe not that last one.
"I could definitely see that happening," tight end Kyle Morlock said.
"Absolutely," third-team-turned-starting-QB Brock Glenn said.
Michigan and Washington both must lose for FSU's shot
Here's the scenario: If the Seminoles defeat the defending two-time national champion Bulldogs, and the only other P5 unbeaten teams — Michigan and Washington — lose in the playoff, FSU is eligible to be No. 1 in the poll with the informed voters who are not worried about making sure the SEC does not get its feelings hurt.
In that case, FSU is the lone undefeated P5 team. AP voters — I am one of those — are not obligated to vote for the winner of the CFP No. 1. They have every year of the four-team playoff, but the CFP winner has been the clear champion since the current format was introduced in 2014.
This is not unprecedented. In 2003, during the BCS era, we had a split national champion. LSU finished 13-1 after defeating Oklahoma in the BCS title game and USC was 12-1 with its win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
USC received 48 first-place votes to LSU's 17 in the final AP poll and is as vocal about its championship as LSU.
As an AP voter, I absolutely would consider the Seminoles at the top of the final poll. Especially if Alabama wins its two final games.
Alabama upset Georgia by 3 points in the SEC championship game, a victory Nick Saban used to argue his case for his one-loss team to be included in the playoff. The Tide, he said, deserves to be there because it beat the team deemed the best in the country the entire season.
FSU could use that same argument against Alabama, especially if it wins by more than a field goal, and one other Saban could not: "And we did not lose a game."
My AP final four after conference championship weekend was: 1. Michigan, 2. Washington, 3. FSU, 4. Texas. FSU and Texas were flipped when all the votes were tabulated.
Many voters may be turned off by the Orange Bowl being diminished by opt-outs and players in the portal. Georgia has about 20 players in the portal but likely will be without just a handful of starters. This also could work in FSU's favor.
A win over Georgia would be more impressive by a team that is as much as an 18-point underdog. And that number, some believe, is too low.
"We know what's at stake," said Emmanuel, who was at Charlotte for five years before transferring to FSU. "We're going against a great opponent that's been the No. 1 team in the country for a long time.
"We worked very hard this season to be where we are. We're going to try to finish the season strong."
And raise a banner.
When is the Orange Bowl?
Saturday, 4 p.m., Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
No. 5 Florida State (13-0) vs. No. 6 Georgia (12-1)
TV: ESPN/ACC
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FSU football's road to claiming a national championship
