"Boys got robbed" - CFB world reacts to FSU crowd's depressing silence after playoff rankings announcement

The college football world was shocked to know that FSU would not be in the College Football Playoff after the selection committee revealed its four playoff teams. For the first time in the CFP era, an undefeated Power Five team has been dropped from the playoffs. The Alabama Crimson Tide, who had a 12-1 season, was chosen over the Florida State Seminoles, an undefeated power team.

Images came out of Atlantic Coast Conference champions FSU, showing a devastated Mike Norvell surrounded by his players, listening to the controversial College Football Playoff committee choice.

Florida State fans were quick to react, understandably feeling like they got robbed by the committee:

"Them boys got robbed," one fan wrote.

The most common feeling was the CFP committee had just broken the system. Conspiracy theories started flying around as soon as the committee's decision was made public:

Some college football fans have outright decided to stop watching the sport:

The common sentiment among fans was empathy with Mike Norvell's boys and the whole of the Seminole nation:

Michigan fans vowed to do right by FSU:

The college football world is rallying behind its dislike of the SEC:

Even haters of FSU feel the Seminoles got robbed:

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FSU kicked out of CFP despite perfect season: Looking at it from a fan's perspective

The committee seems to justify its decision to include Alabama by the measure that the most deserving team is not always the best. But if sports is not about playing your best to be the most deserving, then what is it about? Why do we even play the games if a losing team can advance because they are "perceived" to be better despite the hard, cold fact that they lost?

Some people will say that was early on the season. No other sport would discard early-season defeats as if they didn't matter. Would the New York Yankees advance to the postseason if they won every game of their last month but were five games behind the Wild Card? Would the New England Patriots be in the NFL?

The fact is that regular-season performances matter. Teams must be judged for their resume throughout the season, not just the last week.

One might say that they lost their starting quarterback. What other sport would disqualify a team from advancing for overcoming adversity? What message are we sending to programs dealing with injuries? That they shouldn't give it their best?

For a final take, let's not forget the original College Football Playoff in 2014 was won by an Ohio State team that was down to its third-string quarterback. Mike Norvell and the Florida State Seminoles were just robbed of that opportunity.

The unbeaten FSU finished 13-0 with an ACC championship after defeating Louisville 16-6 on Saturday.

For many, this will go down as one of the most uncompetitive decisions in American sports history. Fans believe this will hurt the competitive nature of college football and the committee's credibility for choosing spectacle over competitiveness.

For those fans saying, "But how can you leave out the SEC champion?" here's a little fact: The SEC had a 7-9 record against other Power Five conferences this year. The conference went 4-6 against the ACC, 1-2 against the Big 12 and 2-1 versus the Pac-12. So why is a 12-1 SEC team chosen over an undefeated ACC school? Why wasn't Washington kicked out instead?

They might as well forgo the 2024 regular season and play the four more popular teams in the SEC and Big Ten in next year's College Football Playoff.

For many fans, this stain will be hard to remove from the sport.