Postseason changes have all but ended chances of split national championship
The question seemed like a valid one moments after unbeaten ACC champion Florida State was left out of the College Football Playoff.
Could the fourth-ranked Seminoles, with a victory against defending national champion and No. 6 Georgia in the Orange Bowl, be voted No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 college football poll?
"As a matter of principle, I'd consider ranking Florida State No. 1 regardless of whether they are in the CFP field," said ESPN's Rece Davis, a longtime AP Top 25 voter. "Much like the selection process itself, the exercise is who, in my judgment, is the best team."
In reality, though, the current state of college football's postseason all but renders the conversation moot.
Between players transferring or opting out to concentrate on NFL draft preparations and coaching staffs turned upside down by hirings and firings, the better question these days is how much consideration should poll voters give to postseason games outside the CFP at all?
"This is my 14th time as an AP voter, and I definitely think I will be less likely to vote teams considerably up or down after the bowls than I did in the past," said Scott Rabalais of The Advocate of Baton Rouge (Louisiana).
On Saturday at the Orange Bowl, Florida State will be a shell of the team that won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Quarterback Jordan Travis is still recovering from a broken leg, an injury that essentially kept the Seminoles out of the playoff. Many of FSU's best players, including defensive end Jared Verse, running back Tre Benson and receiver Keon Coleman, have opted out as they look toward the NFL draft.
Earlier this week, No. 2 quarterback Tate Rodemaker chose to transfer and skip the game.
Georgia is in better shape. Nineteen Bulldogs hit the transfer portal after the season, though most were backup players. It does look as if All-America tight end Brock Bowers and highly regarded tackle Amarius Mims will miss the game after seasons interrupted by injuries.
"If Florida State handles Georgia easily and the three CFP games are duds, then I'd gladly vote the Seminoles No. 1, but it's not going to happen," said AP Top 25 voter Robert Cessna of the Bryan-College Station (Texas) Eagle.
No. 1 Michigan (13-0) faces fourth-seeded Alabama (12-1) in the Rose Bowl semifinal and No. 2 Washington (13-0) plays No. 3 Texas (12-1) in Sugar Bowl semifinal on Monday. The final AP Top 25 is released a few hours after the Jan. 8 national championship game.
Rabalais covers No. 13 LSU, which will play Wisconsin in the ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa on Monday without Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels, who has opted out.
"The lack of a player of Daniels' caliber has to be taken into consideration were LSU to lose and I was deciding where to put them on my final ballot," he said.
In some cases, the teams playing in the bowls barely resemble the ones that earned those postseason trips and rankings.
Take the Sun Bowl, with No. 15 Notre Dame (9-3) facing No. 21 Oregon State (8-4) in El Paso, Texas, on Friday.
Neither team will have its starting quarterback after Notre Dame's Sam Hartman (NFL draft) and Oregon State's DJ Uiagalelei (transfer) opted out.
The Irish are missing most of their starting offense, including AllAmerica offensive tackle Joe Alt and running back Audric Estime, a second-team All-American. Offensive coordinator Gerad Parker recently took the head coaching job at Troy.
Beavers coach Jonathan Smith leave for Michigan State after the regular-season finale. Now they are down to a third-string quarterback, though one with starting experience in Ben Gulbranson, and have had several key players transfer out. Leading rusher Damien Martinez is serving a suspension.
"The stats count. It counts in the win-loss column. When people look at Notre Dame and Oregon State's record in the future it's going to include the results of this game. In that regard, well, I'll factor it in," Matt Brown from the The Athletic said on the AP Top 25 College Football Podcast. "On the other hand, if Notre Dame and Oregon State had these rosters for most of the year? The teams that take the field will really not be top-20 teams."