The Florida State Seminoles were snubbed of a College Football Playoff spot despite going 13-0 on the year. Fans have been pretty split about this decision. Legendary college basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski made his opinion on the matter very clear on Friday.
The decision to leave Florida State out of the CFP was largely made due to two big factors. A season-ending injury to starting quarterback Jordan Travis and the perception that the ACC Conference is not on par with some of the bigger conferences in the sport.
Krzyzewski appeared on SiriusXM’s College Sports Radio on Friday, where he offered his opinion as a former coach. He made the argument that Florida State elevated their play without Jordan Travis, which is something he believes that the CFP committee didn’t recognize.
“I was surprised,” said Krzyzewski on the decision. “Obviously the most important position is the quarterback. But as a coach, a lot of times teams get better when they lose (their quarterback). They don’t score as much, but people ante up. The resiliency of a team is shown. I thought once their quarterback got hurt Florida State showed a higher level of toughness. They weren’t going to score 36 points, but they weren’t going to let anybody score.
“Whatever that defense or special teams did, that wasn’t recognized. It was a different way of being a champion. I think it’s a bunch of bullcrap to say that it was a different team. That’s what I see as a coach, and I think it’s one of the missed things that people don’t talk about.”
It’s not all that surprising to see Krzyzewski have this opinion. Any head coach regardless of sport sees their lone objective each game is to win, which is something that Florida State did.
We will obviously never know whether Florida State’s team as a whole would have risen to the occasion in the CFP without Jordan Travis as their quarterback. But there is a fair argument that they should have at least been given the opportunity to do so.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.