Instant Reaction to College Football Playoff Field
Ava Hudson
Updated on April 03, 2026
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and Jay Busbee react to the unveiling of the teams that will play in the final four-team edition of the College Football Playoff, and try to explain why the CFP Selection committee made the decision to leave out undefeated Florida State in favor of Alabama.
Video Transcript
[AUDIO LOGO]
JASON FITZ: Michigan in at number one. There's no surprise there. Michigan is in and they are done at number one. So that made things easy, although I think some people might have thought they could have looked a little better last night. That doesn't really matter, Busbee. Michigan gets that big win and they go to number one.
Makes sense with Georgia losing, right? The number two team. No surprise. Undefeated. Washington comes in at 13 and 0. The kind of a sleeper in this whole conversation, Busbee. We've been talking so much about which teams belong. There was a period four days ago where I thought Oregon would be in this conversation, not Washington. And they went out and took care of business.
JAY BUSBEE: Yeah. Oregon was, what, a 9 point favorite, something like that? And Washington just stiff armed them right from the jump and then never let them back in the game, never let them really get close. So yeah, Washington all of a sudden is kind of sneaking in under the radar here. And who knows what's going to happen in the first round, the first game, whatever Bowl they end up choosing. But it's going to be fun to. See no matter what Washington does, they are still a player. It's something that we would not have expected just a couple of weeks ago.
JASON FITZ: Texas is the number three team in the country. And by the way, deservedly so after they just kicked the snot out of Oklahoma State.
JAY BUSBEE: Yeah. I mean, they do have that Oklahoma loss on their resume. But at this point, who cares? They've got the Alabama win. They played so well down the stretch. Sark is cheering on his guys right now as we watch. Yeah, absolutely well-deserved. No one's going to have a problem with this.
JASON FITZ: Alabama, which means Florida State is going to be number five, which means for the first time in history an undefeated Power Five group, a Power Five champion is missing the college football playoff. This is a staggering moment for Florida State and a huge statement for Alabama, Busbee.
JAY BUSBEE: Oh, man. Alabama, I mean, they have to be thrilled. But Florida State, you have to-- they did everything they. Did everything they could. They limped across the finish line there with a third string quarterback. It has happened before, Iowa-- sorry, Ohio State did it back in 2014.
But to have it happen to Florida State now? Oh my God. What a stomp to the jewels, man. That's brutal. Why did they take Alabama? They took Alabama because they're looking for the best team rather than the best resume rather than that unblemished record. They're looking for the best team. And I don't think it's disputable that Alabama is a better team than Florida State. But I mean, we see now what matters. It doesn't matter what happens on the field so much as how you put it all together at the very end.
JASON FITZ: So this is where I get on my soapbox for a second. And I remind everybody that from the inception, as I've said multiple times, from the inception there were only four playoff teams allowed and there are five Power Five conferences. From the get go the way this was designed, it was designed to break somebody's heart. So the fact that it's Florida State--
