This one was just too easy.
"An elephant would be scarier."---Nick Saban to Deion Sanders in an AFLAC commercial currently in heavy rotation.
Apparently, the College Football Playoff Committee agrees with the Alabama coach, whose Crimson Tide captured the SouthEastern Conference (SEC) title Saturday, dethroning 2-time defending champ Georgia. Less than 24 hours later, the committee determined that Alabama would represent the SEC in the Playoff, which begins New Year's weekend.
That leaves ACC champion Florida State out in the cold, despite an undefeated record. Alabama is one of two 1-loss teams in the tournament. The lone team that beat them, Texas, back in September, is the other. Florida State lost their starting quarterback, Jordan Travis, to a leg injury last month in a tomato can squash, and the committee decided that Travis' injury was justification to eliminate the Seminoles.
Ah, but what if Louisville had beaten Florida State Saturday for the ACC title?
The committee's response? Crickets. They found an avenue to get the Tide into the Playoff, and took it. Screw the semantics.
Florida State administration is up in arms. Senator Rick Scott is looking to Congress to investigate (what a shock). Governor Ron DeSantis, who's not at fault at all, is being blamed for the travesty by a certain bloviating lunatic we don't need to name.
So, then, what is the committee's motivation?
Television ratings, of course. Alabama & the SEC are still a ratings draw, even as the league's TV deal with CBS has expired, and they'll move their Saturday showcase games to ABC/ESPN next season. Saban has had his private phone number leaked online, and has gotten dozens of anonymous calls from idiots who can't read between the lines in the last 24+ hours since the pairings were announced.
Let me try to make this as simple as possible for the simpletons hassling Saban. All of the teams played their hearts out. They worked hard from training camp to now. The committee members only saw dollar signs from ad revenues generated from the broadcasts, and it wouldn't be a surprise if they somehow manipulate things so that Alabama gets a chance at revenge against Texas January 8.
Oh, by the way, here's that AFLAC ad.
Speaking as someone who lives in the Seattle area, and who has rooted for one of the CFP teams since I was a kid(Washington)... I would say UW might have something to say about a Texas/Alabama matchup(as UW plays Texas in the Sugar Bowl).
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if I were Texas I would be more concerned with UW than Alabama, as with basically the same roster, UW beat Texas in the Alamo Bowl last season... and this year UW went 13-0, won the Pac-12, defeated their biggest rival(Oregon) twice, including the Pac-12 Championship Game...
In addition, the Huskies have one of the four players that was invited to New York for the Heisman(QB Michael Pennix), and overall have just a good a team as the Longhorns...
And, a month later, we'd see that Washington would, indeed, beat Texas, only to lose to Michigan. Penix & the Huskies had a great season.
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