The College Football Playoff Committee hasn’t been kind in the two years the Noles have been in the CFP hunt. The 2014 undefeated FSU football team had to deal with all types of made-up criteria like “game control” to send them all the way across the country to face the Oregon Ducks at the No. 4 seed.
The 2023 FSU football team, also undefeated, was snubbed from the College Football Playoff so that two SEC teams could make it in, despite having losses.
Obviously, the Noles haven’t been in the College Football Playoff hunt over the past two years, going 7-17 and not making a bowl game in either season. The Noles project as the No. 35 team in the preseason according to Bill Connelly’s SP+ advanced metrics, and they have over 50 percent of their production returning from a year ago.
It’s unlikely they will be in the mix for a College Football Playoff spot in 2026, but that’s not to say they can’t make it happen over the next two. We saw what an unheralded Indiana team did in 2025.
Would Gus Malzhan do Florida State a solid and advocate for them if they were in the mix for a CFP spot?
The College Football Playoff Committee added a familiar face to the group on Wednesday when former FSU offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn was appointed to the group.
Malzahn retired from coaching at FSU a few weeks ago after entertaining a couple of other coaching gigs. He and Mike Norvell were close at one point, and I'm not sure what the last year working together did to that relationship. .
Gus Malzhan has always had a healthy respect for Florida State football, after all, they beat him in the 2013 National Championship game. Malzahn will be on the committee for the next three years. If FSU can somehow find itself in the mix between now and then, it can't hurt to have someone on the committee who has a long-standing relationship with Gus Malzhan.