Though Jordan Travis’ gruesome leg injury damages Florida State’s College Football Playoff hopes, the onfield ramifications do not show up on my Associated Press Top 25 ballot. Yet.
This, unfortunately, is not the first time I’ve had to consider devastating injuries to starting quarterbacks as a voter. Similar situations happened with FSU’s Deondre Francois in 2017 and UCF’s McKenzie Milton in 2018. In both cases, I followed my general rule of not dropping a team immediately because of such a major injury.
I understand the argument for a quick adjustment. Assuming Travis is out this week — coach Mike Norvell didn’t provide an update on his quarterback’s status after the North Alabama game — the FSU team that will play at Florida is not the same as the one that beat LSU, Clemson, Duke and Miami. Perhaps the rankings should reflect that, too.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/D6RM7U74JBEDLO2PDLZPENT2XQ.jpg "Tate Rodemaker has limited experience, including reps at North Carolina State in 2020.")
I see it differently. While I expect the Seminoles’ onfield performance to dip without Travis, it hasn’t happened yet. For all I know, Norvell will come up with the perfect gameplan for Tate Rodemaker, who will throw for 500 yards and six touchdowns. Rodemaker hadn’t seen meaningful action since coming off the bench to lead FSU to a win at Louisville last year. His 13-of-23, two-touchdown performance Saturday against a lower-level team doesn’t give me enough of a sample size for this season either (especially considering some of his receivers’ drops). Until I know more, FSU’s quarterback status is not a driving factor on my ballot.
The Seminoles’ showing, however, was. I dropped FSU to fifth for reasons unrelated to Travis. Falling behind 13-0 to the lowly Lions was a concern, even though it ended in a 58-13 win. As importantly, I couldn’t justify putting Michael Penix Jr.’s Huskies behind FSU after Washington beat a top-11 Oregon State team on the road. Michigan also moved ahead of the Seminoles after a road win over a Maryland team that’s ranked in the top 40 in some advanced metrics.
Other AP Top 25 thoughts
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/NZROQWB627PKLQRNJ5XL3EF6ZM.jpg "Missouri beat Florida on a last-second field goal and rose on our AP Top 25 ballot.")
• Missouri is up a spot to 13th after a tight win over the Gators. I’m still lower on the Tigers than my peers and the playoff committee because I’m putting a lot of emphasis on head-to-head victories. Mississippi beat LSU, and LSU beat Missouri on the road. Their resumes are comparable, so that’s why I put them in that order 11-13.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3KMXMNZYE5ATTCL2AYP224QPHU.png "Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene")
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• Louisville stayed at No. 9 after earning its first ever road win at Miami. The Cardinals’ defense was disappointing, but maybe some of that credit belongs to the Hurricanes. Regardless, the 10-1 Cardinals have outperformed my expectations this year, and they’ll be a formidable challenge for FSU in the Dec. 2 ACC championship.
• I strongly considered moving Washington past Ohio State for second on my ballot. I didn’t, however, because advanced metrics still strongly favor the Buckeyes. ESPN’s Football Power Index has Ohio State at No. 1 (though I’ll still take Georgia, which has now beaten three consecutive ranked teams by at least two scores).
• James Madison went from hosting ESPN’s “College GameDay” to tumbling out of my rankings. The Dukes’ 10 previous victories weren’t enough to overshadow a home loss to 7-4 Appalachian State, even though it went to overtime.
• Utah, North Carolina and Tennessee all dropped out of my ballot this week, too, after double-digit losses. Their exits made room for the return of Oklahoma State and the debuts of North Carolina State and Toledo. Among the other teams I considered: UNLV, UCLA, Clemson and Troy.
Matt Baker’s AP Top 25 ballot
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ILPG6APKZGXPD42IPD6CCODSSU.jpg "Georgia remains No. 1 in our rankings.")
1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Washington
4. Michigan
5. Florida State
6. Oregon
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Louisville
10. Penn State
11. Mississippi
12. LSU
13. Missouri
14. Oregon State
15. Oklahoma
16. Kansas State
17. Notre Dame
18. Arizona
19. Tulane
20. SMU
21. Liberty
22. Iowa
23. Oklahoma State
24. Toledo
25. North Carolina State
• • •
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