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FSU Football: Willie Taggart says only Power Five teams will play for title

By Jason Parker

TALLAHASSEE OCTOBER 7: Defensive back Stanford Samuels III #8 of the Florida State Seminoles intercepts a pass intended for wide receiver Lawrence Cager #18 of the Miami Hurricanes during the second half of an NCAA football game at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE OCTOBER 7: Defensive back Stanford Samuels III #8 of the Florida State Seminoles intercepts a pass intended for wide receiver Lawrence Cager #18 of the Miami Hurricanes during the second half of an NCAA football game at Doak S. Campbell Stadium on October 7, 2017 in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Butch Dill/Getty Images) /
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FSU football and other Power Five teams will always have a chance to play for a national title – while other conferences never will, says their coach.

For those who have been living under a rock for the last few months, the folks down at the University of Central Florida are still claiming that they are the college football national champions for this season because they went 13-0 in a weaker conference and upset Auburn in the Peach Bowl – a publicity stunt that makes fans of FSU football and others laugh.

In reality, the Knights are just the latest mid-major team in the FBS that whines and complains about how they don’t get the proper respect – when in reality, they are not playing the same level of football week in and week out as teams from a Power Five conference (and having almost a month to prepare would make any team look good against the SEC West champs).

Those who don’t fully understand college football don’t quite get that…thus why the constant whining led to the current College Football Playoff, which is still not good enough for some.

When asked about whether a team like UCF could end up making the four team playoff during an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, FSU football head coach Willie Taggart kept it 100 percent with his answer: No.

"“Not the way the system is now. It’s all about strength of schedule. We don’t want it to be that way, but that’s the way it is and I don’t see that changing.”"

Should UCF have gotten a little more respect in the polls (i.e. being higher than 12th in the playoff rankings entering the bowl season)? Of course they should. Is their 12-0 record entering bowl season that include wins over “powers” like FIU, Cincinnati, East Carolina and UConn on par with a full season schedule in a Power Five conference? Not even a chance.

The last time a non-Power Five conference team won the national title was the Miami Hurricanes in the 1991 season, which capped a 10 season run that saw eight independent teams win a national title before almost all the big independent schools, including FSU football, joined a conference starting in 1992.

Taggart went on to say that it wasn’t the way it should be, but with the focus of schedule strength that the playoff committee has, it’s just the way it is.

"“If you’re a Power 5 school, those non-conference games you play need to be against other Power 5 schools and you need to win them all to have a chance to get into the playoff.”"

UCF’s non-conference schedule last season – after cancellations of a game against Georgia Tech due to Hurricane Irma – ended up being FIU, Maryland and FCS for Austin Peay. It also doesn’t help when you need double overtime to beat Memphis in your conference championship game.

In 2018, the Knights’ non-conference slate includes FCS foe South Carolina State, UNC, FAU and Pittsburgh – with the Owls being the only team who had a winning record last year, so that’s not going to help the argument.

Next: Would FSU have made playoff each season of dynasty?

Taggart is right – most Power Five schools are going to try to get games against other Power Five programs to beef up that schedule strength, which is why you can expect FSU football to shy away from the schedule pattern of the former leadership in the coming seasons.

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