Ramifications for FSU football in newly proposed 14-team CFP

Florida State football fans are still feeling the effects of the 4-team College Football Playoff as the committee decided to insert a one-loss SEC champion Alabama Crimson Tide team over an undefeated ACC champion Florida State Seminoles.

This exclusion was completely shocking to a large group of individuals (including myself). Overall, there was a majority of people within the college football media suggested that the Seminoles would have a great opportunity to be in the 12-team College Football Playoff that starts next season.

However, Florida State head football coach Mike Norvell had a special squad in Tallahassee that consisted of several highly-touted contributors, many of whom announced their intentions to declare for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Even though they did not get an opportunity to compete for a championship, this is a football team that fans will remember for a very long time. The Seminoles tried to counteract some of the departures this offseason by going out and acquiring over fifteen transfers (thirty eight newcomers in general).

This will likely give the Seminoles an advantage as they hope to finally make it to the new 12-team playoff (if the committee does not leave them out this time). However, as a fan, I would not get used to the new format as ESPN reported that a 14-team College Football Playoff is expected to formalized in the near future, which would begin in 2026.

We haven't even seen what a 12-team College Football Playoff would do within the landscape of college football. It seems like a rash move to add two more teams to the playoff system.

Conferences such as the SEC and the Big Ten are leading the charge as they want their leagues to have more institutions involved. There have even been suggestions to sway the playoff committee to let the conference champion winners from each league get automatic byes.

Florida State is fighting for its life to break the Grant of Rights deal in the ACC, which expires in 2036. With the massive revenue gap from conference to conference, the Seminoles see that it is unsustainable to remain afloat in the new system. With the proposed 14-team playoff system, it is even more paramount for Florida State will try and find its home with the SEC or Big Ten.

The landscape of college football is rapidly changing. We will have to buckle up as it will get even more crazy.