This is a good read. I am a die hard Noles fan. Its mid-November. Do you know where your best team in the country is? Is it in T-Town or Tally-town? Starkvegas or Phil Knight Land? Is it in on the Brazos River or where they dot the i? Frog country or Westwood? You dont know, do you? Thats OK. Nobody does. Theres a difference between the No. 1 team in the country and the best team. The best team has a presence about it. The best team can bowl a 400 game. Brandy sniffs it. The Swiss ask it for the time. College football has yet to see that team this season. Weve had No. 1s, but nobody who made you genuflect in their presence. Every team in the top 25 has just enough football acne to require a dab of Clearasil. I now have Florida State as my top team. Theyre not the best team -- because I wouldnt trust the Seminoles as far as I could throw Renegade -- but theyre my No. 1 team. Theyre only No. 1 because I couldnt do what the College Football Playoff selection committee did last week, which was bump a one-loss Oregon team ahead of undefeated FSU. [+] EnlargeJameis Winston Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Jameis Winston continues to silence opponents who think they have a shot at an upset. The Seminoles have three things the other CFP contenders dont: a place-kicker who can split the uprights from the stadium parking lot while wearing construction boots, with the clock only a tick away from double zeroes; a quarterback who can make the kind of pressure throws that cause defensive coordinators to fling their headphones in disbelief; a roster that is convinced that no matter how crappy it plays, it will figure out a way to defuse the loss bomb with a thigh pad, trainers tape and Jimbo Fishers comb. FSU has won 26 games in a row. You win 26 consecutive games of anything, and thats impressive. The Seminoles are 10-0 this season, but they just as easily could be 4-6. Think about that for a moment. They led Oklahoma State on a neutral field 17-0 but squeaked by 37-31. They trailed Clemson at home 17-10 (without a suspended Jameis Winston) and won 23-17 in overtime. They fell behind North Carolina State by 17 but eventually won by 15. They were thisclose to losing at home to Notre Dame -- down 27-24 -- but won 31-27. They saw Louisville take a 21-0 lead but pulled out a 42-31 victory. On Saturday, they trailed Miami 16-0 but won 30-26. It was FSUs third victory this season after trailing by 15 or more points. This is what you call tempting fate. This is like telling your teacher the dog keeps eating your homework -- and getting away with it. Florida State could teach a course in survival techniques. The Seminoles shouldnt still be unbeaten, but they are. They shouldnt be atop my ranking -- or any rankings, for that matter -- but they are. At the end of the day, theyre the only undefeated team without a PR firm (sorry, Marshall), and that counts for something. Is FSU the best team? No, but the Noles are the most resilient team. And theyre definitely the best second-half team in the country. When it comes to escapes, they make Indiana Jones look like a slacker. FSUs opponents are a combined 51-51 this season. Only half the teams it has faced are above .500. So its not like the Noles got scheduled to death. Meanwhile, you, me and everybody else keeps saying FSUs mistakes are going to catch up with it. At some point, we say, the Seminoles arent going to be able to find that second-half light switch. But until then, I have to rank them No. 1. I dont feel great about it, but whats the alternative? Put one-loss Alabama ahead of them? One-loss Oregon? I know the Seminoles arent the best team in the country. But I also know Bama and Oregon and whatever other team you want to throw into the conversation arent the best, either. Or put it this way: Name me the dominant team of the 2014 season.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 19:56:33 +0000
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