The 3-2-1: Evaluating the Orange Bowl, other CFP committee picks

1 – Orange Bowl bid is just reward for 2016 Seminoles

It was no surprise that Louisville fans were frustrated about being passed by Florida State in the College Football Playoff rankings last week. And I get why they might have been mad Sunday about being shipped to the Citrus Bowl while the Seminoles were honored with an invitation to the Orange Bowl.

What I didn’t understand was why some non-Louisville people and assorted media-types took issue with it. Yes, we all know about the head-to-head result – that the Seminoles didn’t just lose to the Cardinals, but were dismantled by them. But we see scenarios like this play out year after year: Team A beats Team B during an otherwise inferior season, and Team B ends up being rewarded for their overall body of work. The rest of Team B’s season isn’t negated because of that one head-to-head matchup.

In fact, if you look at the CFP committee’s guiding principles, “strength of schedule” is listed ahead of “head-to-head competition.” And there is no denying that FSU played a much tougher schedule than did Louisville, while posting an identical 9-3 record. Add onto that the fact that the Cardinals collapsed down the stretch -- getting blown out by Houston and losing at home to rival Kentucky -- and Louisville really had no case.

Every NCAA selection committee, whether it be for basketball, baseball or football, places an emphasis on how you perform down the stretch. And Florida State shined in that area as well, winning six of its final seven games, with the lone loss coming to No. 2 Clemson.

When all was said and done, selection committee chair Kirby Hocutt put it best when he explained that FSU simply “was the better football team” at the end of the year. And when you consider how the Seminoles started, college football fans everywhere should appreciate the significance of that. What Jimbo Fisher’s team did after getting off to a surprisingly poor start -- making major improvements on defense, in pass-protection and in overall effort and consistency -- is worthy of praise, not doubt.

Many college football teams would have gone in the tank after entering the season with a top-five ranking and losing two of their first five games. The Seminoles did the opposite; they used the adversity to become a stronger team and program. Louisville, on the other hand, played its best early in the season and then faltered when the games mattered most.