Could an unbeaten FSU be left out of playoff? CFP officials won't say

Could an unbeaten Florida State be left out of the playoff?

Those running the College Football Playoff won't say either way.

“We don't look at those scenarios, we look at what a team has done up to this point in time ... We really can't look out there into the future.”

That was CFP Selection Committee chairman Jeff Long speaking Tuesday night on a conference call.

“Anything can happen,” said Bill Hancock, CFP executive director.

Read into that anything you want, but the fact that CFP officials won't commit has to be a concern. Let's just say the Noles had better start playing better. It all seems to be a general downgrading of FSU, which started the season as the preseason No. 1.

Las Vegas certainly is losing faith, making FSU only a 1 1/2-point favorite over Miami this week. The CFP Selection Committee raised eyebrows Tuesday when it dropped Florida State one spot below Oregon at No. 2. The Seminoles beat unranked Virginia by two touchdowns while the Ducks (9-1) rolled at now-No. 23 Utah.

Jimbo Fisher was perplexed by his team's drop.

While the committee doesn't release its numbers, it seems obvious it would be beneficial if FSU were more impressive. The Noles don't play a ranked team the remainder of the season until, maybe, the ACC Championship Game.

The teams directly below FSU seemingly have the juice to make a move as well. No. 4 TCU (8-1) doesn't play a ranked team either the rest of the way but already has beaten three top 25s in the CFP. The Frogs also have a dangerous Thanksgiving night game left at Texas.

No. 5 Alabama (8-1) still has No. 1 Mississippi State and No. 9 Auburn to go. No. 6 Arizona State has beaten two currently-ranked teams (Utah and Notre Dame).

FSU has beaten two currently-ranked teams -- No. 19 Clemson and No. 18 Notre Dame -- but has been forced to come from behind four times this season after trailing by a total of 52 points in those contests. Certainly, these aren't the dominant Noles of 2013 that set a modern scoring record -- 723 points.

But you'd think that with only two Power 5 schools undefeated -- No. 3 FSU and No. 1 Mississippi State -- the Noles would be solid in the playoff. Using the BCS as a template, no major college undefeated team would have been left out of the top four in the 16 years of the system.

The only other undefeated FBS school, Marshall, remains unranked by the CFP.