Golden: Texas celebrates while Florida State mourns, but the CFP made the right call
They got it right.
Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama feel right, though people in Tallahassee are 10 degrees of steamed right about now.
Golden: Texas' Quinn Ewers skewers Oklahoma State, takes his place in Longhorns lore
Minutes after the wild celebration broke out in Austin, the 13 voters on the College Football Playoff selection committee closed up their briefcases and gave thanks that it will never be this difficult again. I’m sure some retired to a watering hole somewhere in Grapevine — Pappadeaux, perhaps? — and poured a nice stiff one, possibly a double.
It’s a job no one wanted, a responsibility that came with the understanding that a team or two would not be happy with the final result.
But they got it right.
The final four was on the money
Let’s start at the top. Michigan has been great all year, and even if coach Jim Harbaugh’s guano-eating smile on the selection show was a little hard to take for non-sign stealers, the Wolverines' record and Big Ten title speak for themselves.
More: Texas reaches CFP as No. 3 seed, will face Washington in playoff after holding off Alabama, FSU
No. 2 Washington can point to an unbeaten record and two wins over top-10 team Oregon as its calling card along with being the champion of the Pac-12, the best conference this season.
The rematch of the 2022 Alamo Bowl win over Texas will feel like a home game for the Horns, who took over New Orleans way back in 2002 when Texas rolled in and laid a 49-0 beatdown on Tulane.
More: Celebrate the Texas Longhorns' Big 12 championship with a special reprint & hardcover book
Still, quarterback Michael Penix and Co. will pose a sizable threat to Texas’ national title hopes because the Horns have struggled at times on pass defense. Penix will enter the game leading the nation in passing yards (4,218) along with 33 touchdown passes and only nine interceptions.
Texas will have its hands full but will gleefully welcome the challenge with a national title game appearance on the line. The Horns earned their way in because one simply couldn’t ignore their recent dominance and, most important, that 10-point road win over Alabama.
This was no gift. Texas won its way in. There was no way the committee could justify excluding the Horns and including the team it worked 34-24 with 21 fourth-quarter points in Tuscaloosa. And let’s not forget the Horns took a knee at the Bama 34-yard line to run out the clock.
Bohls: Texas' Big 12 drought is over as Longhorns exit the league with a conference title: Bohls
“To earn a seat at the table and to be in this tournament is one that you know we're humbled by but excited for as well,” said coach Steve Sarkisian, summing up the feelings of Longhorn Nation.
The Horns weren’t proficient in style points for most of the season, but wins of 57-7 and 49-21 over the past two weeks screamed to the nation that Texas is as good as anybody. Besides, the Horns didn’t have to throw a Hail Mary into the end zone at 6-5 Auburn just to keep their CFP hopes alive. They beat the SEC champs on the road — something only one team in 53 had accomplished — then made that win hold up over a long season that included the loss of their top running back, Jonathon Brooks.
Georgia was left out, as it should have been
Not to get too much in the weeds over this, but the committee also saved us the disgust of including two SEC teams in the final four. Georgia wasn’t the Georgia that won the last two national titles, and the league went thankfully unrewarded for fattening up on FCS opponents in nonconference.
The Bulldogs beat up on Tennessee-Martin and UAB while others in the league brought in juggernauts like McNeese, Samford, Abilene Christian and Furman. The league’s biggest nonconference victory was arguably Kentucky’s 38-31 win over Louisville in Week 12, the same Cardinals team that scored only six points and looked like a JV offense against a Florida State team that was down to its third-string quarterback Saturday night.
Speaking of the Seminoles, they took a bad beat without really losing a hand all season. FSU did lose its best player, and it cost the Seminoles a CFP slot. There was no replacing quarterback Jordan Travis, who broke his leg two weeks ago against Duke.
Travis posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, about heartbreak, devastation and the crushing realization his team was left on the outside looking in: “I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter.”
They usually do, but the Noles are nowhere near as formidable without a player who was as good as any at his position in the country.
CFP selection chair Boo Corrigan was right when he said on ESPN’s selection show that the Seminoles were “a different team than they were in the first 11 games,” a comment based on the the struggling offense we witnessed without Travis.
This wasn’t easy but the committee can rest easier with a 12-team playoff coming next season.
For now, happy bowling.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas football team nabs CFP bid; controversy boils over Florida State
