Did the College Football Playoff committee get it right? Some Eagles strongly feel they didn’t.
Eagles players who went to Georgia and Florida State, even some from Alabama, think the committee should have chosen their teams.
The College Football Playoff has created quite the buzz across the sports landscape.
The four-team playoff, which was revealed Sunday and compiled by a 13-person selection committee, features No. 1 Michigan (13-0), No. 2 Washington (13-0), No. 3 Texas (12-1), and No. 4 Alabama (12-1). The most notable omissions include undefeated Florida State (13-0) and Georgia (12-1), the reigning back-to-back national champion that lost to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
The controversial CFP bracket has been a hot topic this week inside the Eagles locker room. Over the past two seasons, the Eagles have drafted five players from Georgia: defensive tackles Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter, linebackers Nolan Smith and Nakobe Dean, and cornerback Kelee Ringo. Running back D’Andre Swift also is a UGA alum.
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Before he departed for Lincoln Financial Field this past Sunday, Ringo was at his apartment, where he discovered Georgia would not be included in this year’s CFP. He immediately texted his “Philly Dawgs,” group chat and shared his disappointment.
“Man, with us being two-time national champs, that might not mean much now. But we’re huge competitors,” Ringo said. “I think it’s absolutely crazy to say we’re not a top-four team in the country, even after losing to Alabama by three points.
“We all talked about it for a good amount. But I’ll be honest, if I went to Florida State, I would be even more upset. I feel like they’re even more deserving. Statistically, going undefeated, that’s even worse than our situation. Because they were undefeated completely. It doesn’t matter if your quarterback [Jordan Travis] got hurt. The team earned that spot. The team earned it. It doesn’t matter what the committee wants to enforce, they deserve to be in there 100%.
“I just thought, ‘That’s crazy man, no way.’ I feel like it should be Michigan, Washington, Florida State, Georgia. The fact that Alabama beat us, you can’t take that out of consideration. I understand why they took Georgia out, but Florida State has to be in there. Texas beat Alabama, too, so it goes hand in hand.
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“If I was Florida State, I’d be hot. There’s no reason for that.”
Smith became so agitated with Georgia’s exclusion that he declined to comment before offering a short statement summarizing his feelings: “Just let the people know I’m [bleeping] mad. It’s a disgrace.”
Offensive lineman Landon Dickerson offers a unique vantage point. Dickerson, one of seven Eagles who played for Alabama, first graduated from Florida State and then transferred to Alabama for his final college season.
Dickerson believed both of his former schools should be part of the CFP.
“I think Florida State should’ve been in. They can’t do much more, honestly,” Dickerson said. “I wholeheartedly, I’m probably going to offend a bunch of Pac-12 fans – nobody wants to see Washington in there in the playoffs. I mean no offense, they’re an undefeated team, but I guess it’s just the way things go with a four-team playoff and the committee.
“Once they move it to a 12-team playoff, it’ll solve a lot of those issues. It sucks because I feel for those guys. I guess the big debate is, is it the four best teams or the four most justifiable teams? Sometimes, it seems like it’s the justifiable.
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“The thing that gets me is they say they judge the current state of the team. With Travis being hurt for FSU, they should judge Texas — they lost to Oklahoma at home. That should be taken into effect the current state of teams. I don’t know if Texas deserves to be in there.”
Dickerson continued: “The games I want to see played … it’d probably be Michigan No. 1, Florida State No. 2, and then between Texas and Alabama Nos. 3 and 4. Even the Texas thing, I would still leave Georgia in it. Whichever way you want to spin that. Those are the games that I’d want to watch. Hopefully they prove me wrong and Washington plays a good game, but it feels like a lot of times in the playoffs, they put some teams in and they end up getting smoked by 40.”
When asked if he has a stronger allegiance toward Alabama or Florida State, Dickerson chuckled.
“Florida State still has a near and dear place to my heart,” he said. “I’ve got a degree from there. I’ve got a lot of friends — even on the team, [Josh Sweat], bunch of guys have come through here, all still friends of mine. It’s where I met my wife [Brooke]. I have a lot of great memories there. Alabama is more recent, I won a national championship there.”
EJ Smith contributed to this report.
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