Peter Boulware, a former Florida State star linebacker who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, was unhappy with the College Football Playoff Committee’s decision to keep the undefeated Seminoles out of the field of four.
Boulware told TMZ Sports on Monday he was "shocked" and "heartbroken" after Florida State missed out. The Seminoles won the ACC Championship and finished undefeated, but the committee suggested that the season-ending injury to Jordan Travis changed the make-up of the team too much to keep them in.
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"A Power 5 school that's undefeated never gets left out," he told the outlet. "It broke our hearts. And we were just — we were truly devastated."
Boulware added that he hoped there was a process "to make it right" so a team like Florida State doesn’t get left out in the future. However, if there was a larger field this year, the Seminoles would have been a lock.
Florida State was ranked No. 5 in the final placements and will meet No. 6 Georgia in the Orange Bowl. Georgia, despite being the top team in previous CFP rankings this year, was dropped out of the field after losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship. The Bulldogs had a 29-game winning streak and were hoping to win a third consecutive national championship.
Florida State’s coach Mike Norvell, along with other school officials, ripped the committee in subsequent statements.
"I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee’s decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the game," Norvell said.
"What is the point of playing games? Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging non-conference games? We are not only an undefeated P5 conference champion, but we also played two P5 non-conference games away from home and won both of them.
"I don’t understand how we are supposed to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team."
Norvell’s sentiments were echoed even by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle.
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