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Former New Jersey governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie told host Margaret Brennan on ‘Face the Nation’ that he is ‘confident’ he will be on the fourth GOP debate stage this week.

‘I’m confident, Margaret, that I will be there, that we have all the qualifications necessary to get there,’ Christie said. The debate is set to happen Wednesday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Republican National Committee is expected to announce the participants Monday.

Christie also told the show host it is too early to make election predictions.

‘Look, if we listen to all the polling, Margaret, Hillary Clinton would be in her second term. So I don’t believe that polling is nearly as reliable as it used to be. And I don’t believe that people tell the truth to pollsters,’ he said, adding that in 2007 polls showed Mitt Romney in the lead, in 2011 Newt Gingrich and in 2017 Ben Carson, none of whom held the White House.

As Christie runs again for the presidency, he is concentrating most of his time and resources on New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in the Republican schedule and votes second after Iowa’s caucuses. Christie is currently in third place in New Hampshire polls, far behind President Trump and slightly trailing former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

In 2016, Christie became the first among the other GOP contenders to endorse Trump and for years was a top outside adviser to the then-president. However, the two had a falling out after Trump’s unsuccessful attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to President Biden. In the past three years, Christie has become one of the harshest Trump critics in the Republican Party.

On Sunday, Christie said he refused to support Trump because his way of leading is a threat to democracy.

‘The reason is that he acts like someone who doesn’t care about our democracy, acts like someone who wants to be a dictator. He acts like someone who doesn’t care for the Constitution. In fact, he’s even said himself he’d be willing to suspend the Constitution if an election wasn’t going in his direction,’ Christie said.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report. 

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday asked whether former President Trump was seeking a second term in the White House to fulfill his personal retribution against his perceived enemies or to help improve the future of everyday Americans.

When asked on on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ about Trump campaigning on promises to get back at his enemies, DeSantis challenged the former president with a single question: ‘Why are you running?’

‘If he’s running for personal retribution, that is not going to lead to what we need as a country,’ the governor said. ‘You got to be running for the American people and their issues, not about your own personal issues. And that is a distinction between us. I am focused on the folks. I am focused on what they want to see done for this country in a positive direction. I’m the vessel, but ultimately, it’s not about me.’

DeSantis was responding to a question from anchor Kristen Welker about Trump campaigning on promises ‘to jail his political enemies’ and whether he condemns the use of the term ‘vermin’ that Trump used to refer to his political opponents.

‘I don’t use the term,’ DeSantis said ‘But what I don’t do is play the media’s game where I’m asked to referee other people. He’s responsible for his words. He’s responsible for his conduct. I’m responsible for mine.’

DeSantis claimed that the U.S. government is ‘out of control’ through the ‘weaponization’ of the FBI, IRS and Department of Justice, a claim that Trump has also made.

‘I’m going to end that weaponization,’ DeSantis said. ‘But that’s not because I’m doing it for me. It’s because I’m doing it for the people that have been under the thumb of these agencies, and I’m going to restore the rule of law.’

DeSantis remains a distant second to Trump in polling and is facing new pressure from the campaign of former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has been rising in early-state polls and picked up the support of Americans for Prosperity, the political arm of the powerful Koch network.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Sunday countered a warning from former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., about the re-election of former President Trump dooming the American republic, saying that the re-election of President Biden would be disastrous for the entire world.

Graham appeared on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ and was asked to respond to Cheney’s remark during an interview over the weekend that a second Trump presidency means that the U.S. is ‘sleepwalking into a dictatorship.’

‘I understand why people don’t like what he does and says at times,’ Graham said of Trump, ‘but in terms of actions and results, he was far better president [than] Biden. And if we have four more years of this, Liz Cheney, then we won’t recognize America and the world will be truly on fire.’

Graham, who has endorsed Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election, said he understood that Cheney’s ‘hatred of Trump is real,’ but warned that Biden’s policies are a disaster for everyone.

‘I think a continuation of the Biden presidency would be a disaster for peace and prosperity at home and abroad,’ Graham said. ‘Our border is broken; the only person really going to fix our broken border is Donald Trump.’

Graham also noted that Russia invaded Ukraine and terrorists attacked Israel under Biden’s tenure.

‘When [Trump] was president, none of this stuff was going on in Ukraine,’ he said. ‘You know, Hamas and all these other terrorist groups were afraid of Trump.’

Cheney, a Republican who represented Wyoming’s at-large congressional district, was a vocal critic of Trump during his presidency and continued to assail the former president in her book ‘Oath and Honor,’ which she has been making the rounds publicizing.

Cheney was ousted from Congress last year after losing to pro-Trump candidate Harriet Hageman.  

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White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Sunday blamed Hamas for ending the temporary cease-fire agreement with Israel. 

In an appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday,’ Kirby told host Shannon Bream that the United States believes eight or nine Americans are still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, including one woman whose condition and whereabouts are unknown.

‘We just don’t have perfect visibility,’ Kirby said. ‘We’re at this literally by the hour, and we want to get that [cease-fire] put back in place so that, again, more hostages can come out.’ 

‘Hamas is the reason that the pause ended, because they refused to put on the list additional women and children that we know that they are holding and they’re refusing to let go,’ Kirby said. ‘We are working literally by the hour to see if we can get this back on track.’ 

A weeklong cease-fire that expired Friday facilitated the release of dozens of the 240 Israeli and foreign hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But Israel has called its negotiators home and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has committed the Israel Defense Force to removing Hamas from power in Gaza.

Bream confronted Kirby with remarks from Democratic members of Congress regarding military aid to Israel, including progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., who said recently, ‘What we are witnessing is the gross violation of human rights in Gaza and that is being done with U.S. military assistance.’ 

‘What’s being done with U.S. military and security assistance is helping our friend and partner, Israel, go after a truly genocidal threat, a threat posed by Hamas,’ Kirby said in response. ‘And I think it’s just too easy as we get further and further and further away from the 7th of October to forget what happened on that day: 1,200 Israeli literally slaughtered, kids in front of their parents, parents in front of their kids. And we’ve got to help Israel eliminate their threat to the Israeli nation and the Israeli people from that threat, from Hamas, and we’re going to keep doing that, absolutely.’ 

Recognizing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Kirby said the Israeli forces have been ‘receptive’ to messages from the United States and altered the way they’ve conducted some operations to spare civilians, even though Hamas militants are said to hide behind civilians in key infrastructure and safe zones. 

Still, Kirby said, ‘too many’ thousands of civilians have been killed and wounded, while 1 million people have been displaced internally in Gaza. ‘We’re not blind to the humanitarian crisis, which is why we worked so hard to get that pause in place for seven days so that we could get hostages out and get an accelerated amount of food, water, medicine and fuel into Gaza,’ he said. 

Kirby reiterated how Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli counterparts when he was there about the need to ‘reform’ and ‘revitalize’ the Palestinian Authority in a way to meet the ‘aspirations and the needs of the Palestinian people.’ Netanyahu has said Israel does not want to occupy or control Gaza after the conflict ends. 

‘We agree with them on that,’ Kirby said in response Sunday. ‘We don’t want to see them occupy Gaza. We don’t think that that is a long-term strategic goal that is really achievable or wise for the Israeli people. We believe that at the core, the future of governance in Gaza has got to be something that the Palestinian people have a vote in, a voice in. That they have governance that it truly representative of them and their aspirations.’ 

Kirby said Israel is a sovereign nation and denied that the U.S. was placing ‘red lines’ on aid. 

Israel on Sunday ordered more evacuations in and around Gaza’s second-largest city of Khan Younis, followed by heavy bombardment, as the military’s offensive shifted to the southern half of the territory, where Israeli officials say Hamas leaders are hiding. 

Fears of a wider conflict intensified, as a U.S. warship and multiple commercial ships came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Three commercial vessels were attacked in the Red Sea on Sunday, prompting a U.S. warship to shoot down multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) headed toward them.

The development could signify a serious escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Middle East linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

‘Today, there were four attacks against three separate commercial vessels operating in international waters in the southern Red Sea,’ a statement by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) explained. ‘These three vessels are connected to 14 separate nations.’

The USS Carney was in the southern Red Sea, just north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, when it shot down three Houthi drones heading in its direction, a U.S. official told Fox News, adding that the action was taken in self-defense. The drones were launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, the official claimed. 

The USS Carney first detected that Houthi ballistic missiles were headed towards Unity Explorer, a vessel owned and operated by the United Kingdom. The USS Carney shot down the first Houthi unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) headed toward United Explorer and did not incur any damage or injuries to personnel.

USS Carney is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer that has been shooting down drones and cruise missiles in recent weeks launched by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who claimed credit for Sunday’s attack.

After the first incident on Sunday, the Unity Explorer was hit later that afternoon by another UAV and sustained minor damage. The USS Carney destroyed another UAV that was headed towards the ship.

Two other vessels named Number 9 and Sophie II were struck by missiles that afternoon. The USS Carney was able to shoot down a UAV headed towards Sophie II.

‘These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security. They have jeopardized the lives of international crews representing multiple countries around the world,’ CENTCOM said. ‘We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran.’

‘The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners,’ the press release concluded.

Earlier on Sunday, a White House official clarified to Fox News that the American destroyer specifically did not come under attack in the Red Sea, but that the USS Carney responded to their distress calls. 

There are no injuries to any of the crew members on the commercial vessels, which represent multiple nations, meaning the crews are from one country, while the ships are owned by another country and flagged by another, according to the official.

The British military earlier said there had been a suspected drone attack and explosions in the Red Sea, without elaborating.

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the attacks, saying the first vessel was hit by a missile and the second by a drone while in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. He described the ships as allegedly ignoring warnings from Houthi officials prior to the attack.

Saree did not mention any U.S. warship being involved in the attack, according to the AP. 

‘The Yemeni armed forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating the Red Sea (and Gulf of Aden) until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip stops,’ Saree said. ‘The Yemeni armed forces renew their warning to all Israeli ships or those associated with Israelis that they will become a legitimate target if they violate what is stated in this statement.’

Before reports of an attack on a U.S. warship in the Red Sea, former Obama CIA director and defense secretary Leon Panetta on Saturday evening at the Reagan National Defense Forum spoke about how the U.S. should respond to the increasing number of attacks by Iran’s proxy groups against U.S. forces in the Middle East. 

‘I would be much more aggressive,’ Panetta said. ‘I want to go after those who are firing missiles at our troops and make sure they understand that when they fire a missile – they are going to die.’

U.S. forces in the Middle East have been attacked at least 75 times since the middle of last month. The Pentagon does not count attacks on U.S. warships at sea in this number.

Global shipping had increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict.

Earlier in November, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. The rebels still hold the vessel near the port city of Hodeida. Missiles also landed near another U.S. warship last week after it assisted a vessel linked to Israel that had briefly been seized by gunmen.

However, the Houthis had not directly targeted the Americans for some time, further raising the stakes in the growing maritime conflict. In 2016, the U.S. launched Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory to retaliate for missiles being fired at U.S. Navy ships, including the USS Mason, at the time.

Fox News’ Sarah Tobianski and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Eleven months ago, while working for ESPN, Pollack looked into Nick Saban’s eyes and told the Alabama coach what seemed true in that moment.

Georgia ruled.

‘They’ve taken ahold of college football,’ Pollack said during halftime of Georgia’s national championship romp of TCU last January.

Saban was on the ESPN set that night. He quietly and respectfully nodded his head.

Pollack’s words caused a stir in Booker, who watched from afar. And Booker says he wasn’t the only Alabama player moved by what Pollack said to the GOAT’s face.

‘He was on the podium last year with Coach Saban talking about how Georgia is the new standard, Georgia is the new dynasty,’ Booker told me after No. 8 Alabama upset No. 1 Georgia 27-24 on Saturday in the SEC Championship.

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Pollack didn’t use the word ‘dynasty,’ but I wasn’t about to interrupt a 352-pound man on a quote roll after Alabama’s crowning moment Saturday.

So, go ahead Booker. Continue …

‘That really sat with me,’ Booker said of Pollack’s words that night in Inglewood, California, ‘because I came to Alabama for the standard. I came to Alabama to further the dynasty.

‘To hear somebody challenge my coach to his face like that? I take that personally. I feel like everybody who saw it did, and then we responded to that.’

Did they ever.

Alabama stopped the Georgia machine in its tracks.

So much for a three-peat.

The way Booker sees it, Alabama’s dynastic dominance can be imitated but not replicated.

‘There’s only one Alabama, and there’s always going to be one Alabama,’ Booker said.

There can only be one Alabama, but I see it a bit differently from Booker. Alabama’s dominance can be replicated, but it’s going to take more than Georgia’s back-to-back national championships to do so.

The Alabama-Georgia rivalry is going nowhere.

Considering the way Saban and Smart continue to recruit and develop talent and supplement their rosters with cherry pickings from the transfer portal, this won’t be the last time these programs clash in Atlanta.

Alabama-Clemson became the rivalry of the 2010s. Advantage Alabama, which won twice as many national championships during the decade as Clemson did.

That gave way to Alabama-Georgia in the 2020s.

Georgia owns the edge this decade. Pollack put it correctly when he said Georgia had taken ahold of college football.

Alabama wrested control back.

‘There would be no Georgia without Alabama,’ Booker said. ‘We are the standard, and we proved that today. We might have had a slow two years, but the standard is here.’

These rivals will begin meeting more regularly starting next year after the SEC eliminates divisions.

Three matchups between Alabama and Georgia within the same season – regular season, SEC Championship and College Football Playoff – is not only a possibility, it probably will happen sometime within this decade.

I’d expect Pollack to light a few more fires. The former Georgia standout turned analyst was caught up in ESPN’s layoffs last summer, but he’s still opining on the web. He recently planted his flag for Georgia ahead of the SEC Championship.

‘The better coach is clearly Kirby Smart. Clearly,’ Pollack said before Saturday’s game.

Not on Saturday, Smart wasn’t.

The O.G. restored order.

Alabama’s standard became momentarily imitated, but not surpassed.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

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The final College Football Playoff with four teams is set, and there was drama about which teams would be in the field before the format expands next season.

Michigan is the top seed after running through the Big Ten unbeaten, including victories against Ohio State and Iowa to close out the season. It’s the third consecutive appearance for the Wolverines, who overcame two separate suspensions of three games each to coach Jim Harbaugh. They’re ranked No. 1 in the US LBM Coaches Poll for the first time since Dec. 8, 1997.

No. 2 seed Washington won its way into the field with a second defeat of Oregon. After beating the Ducks in the regular season, the Huskies did it again in dramatic fashion in the Pac-12 title game to secure their second spot in the playoff. Their last time in was 2016, which was also the last appearance for the Pac-12.

The difficulty came with the final two spots. Texas and Alabama were one-loss champions of the Big 12 and SEC, respectively. The Longhorns had the edge on the Crimson Tide due to a road victory in Tuscaloosa in Week 2. The committee took both of them, and Florida State became the first unbeaten team in the Power Five left out of the semifinals. The Seminoles were hurt by the loss of quarterback Jordan Travis with a season-ending injury.

‘That was the decision with Alabama at four. Florida State is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks,” College Football Playoff committee chairman Boo Corrigan said. “Coach Norvell, their players, their fans, an incredible season. As you look at who they are as a team right now without Jordan Travis, without the offensive dynamic that he brings to it, they are a different team, and the committee voted Alabama four and Florida State five.”

Georgia fell from No. 1 to No. 6 after its loss to Alabama ended its 29-game winning streak.

With the seedings set, Michigan and Alabama will meet in the Rose Bowl. Washington and Texas will face off in the Sugar Bowl.

Both of the semifinals will take place on Jan. 1. The winners will meet in the College Football Playoff championship game on Jan. 8 in Houston.

The rest of the New Year’s Six matchups were set later in the day.

Florida State and Georgia will play in the Orange Bowl, with the game taking the highest-ranked ACC team and the highest-ranked team from the Big Ten or SEC or Notre Dame.Mississippi and Penn State will face off in the Peach Bowl.Ohio State draws Missouri in the Cotton Bowl.Liberty, the highest-ranked champion in the Group of Five, earns a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against Pac-12 title-game loser Oregon.

College Football Playoff committee Top 25

1. Michigan (13-0) 

2. Washington (13-0)

3. Texas (12-1)

4. Alabama (12-1)

5. Florida State (13-0)

6. Georgia (12-1)

7. Ohio State (11-1)

8. Oregon (11-2)

9. Missouri (10-2)

10. Penn State (10-2)

11. Mississippi (10-2)

12. Oklahoma (10-2)

13. LSU (9-3)

14. Arizona (9-3)

15. Louisville (10-3)

16. Notre Dame (9-3)

17. Iowa (10-3)

18. North Carolina State (9-3)

19. Oregon State (8-4)

29. Oklahoma State (9-4)

21. Tennessee (8-4)

22. Clemson (8-4)

23. Liberty (13-0)

24. SMU (11-2)

25. Kansas State (8-4)

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Here it is. Week 13 of the NFL season is over. The final week of the fantasy football regular season is upon us. This is what you studied all offseason for. This is the moment your fantasy football season has culminated to. Hopefully you’ve secured your spot in the playoffs by this point, but whether you have or have not, the job is not finished. There are still games to be played. Here are five players to consider adding to your team who could pay off huge.

Fantasy football waiver-wire pickups for Week 14:

Houston Texans WR Noah Brown (Rostered in 40% of Yahoo leagues)

I understand the skepticism of picking up somebody who just put up zero points. My counterargument would be that Brown was not only coming off a knee injury, but Brown’s value also comes entirely off of injuries to receivers ahead of him, and Tank Dell just fractured his leg.

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When either Robert Woods or Nico Collins was injured earlier this year, Brown put up monster numbers, recording 16 receptions, 382 yards, and a touchdown in three games. It is hard to replicate that kind of production, but the upside is evident if Brown gets the same usage he had during Weeks 7-9. There is massive upside as the Texans continue to push for a playoff spot.

This team loves to pass. While they do have tough matchups in Weeks 14 and 16 against the Jets and Browns respectively, they also have two matchups against the Tennessee Titans, who have surrendered 20 or more PPR points to opposing receivers in every single game this season.

Cleveland Browns WR Elijah Moore (Rostered in 43% of Yahoo leagues)

The Browns’ top receiver Amari Cooper went down during today’s game against Los Angeles with a concussion. Odds are that Cooper will be in concussion protocol for the Browns’ Week 14 matchup against Jacksonville.

In Cooper’s absence, Moore received practically every look that quarterback Joe Flacco threw. He had 12 targets. TWELVE! That did only result in four receptions, but as I’ve said time and time again, VOLUME. IS. KING!

Moore has now received at least seven targets in each of his last four games. Keep an eye on Cooper’s availability, because if Cooper is out against Jacksonville, Moore will be the top option against a Jaguars’ defense that has allowed at least one receiving touchdown from opposing wide receivers in every single game this season. They’ve surrendered at least twenty PPR points to receivers in all but one game this season as well. It’s a dream matchup and potentially a dream situation.

Green Bay Packers WR Jayden Reed (Rostered in 57% of Yahoo leagues)

Normally, when I write these pieces, I try to aim for players who are owned in 50% of leagues or fewer. Every now and again though, there is a player that comes along who should be owned in 80% of leagues, but isn’t even close. Jayden Reed is one of those players.

Ahead of Sunday Night Football, Reed has been the must-have player in the Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver room. He has scored a touchdown in three straight games. He has at least 15 PPR points in his last three as well. He has double digit PPR points in five of his last six. He has received at least five targets in three straight. No matter how you try to slice it, Reed has been used a lot and is being used in creative ways designed to get him open. You don’t leave a player like that on the waiver wire.

There is a chance that Reed does not have a good game tonight against KC. That does not diminish what Reed has been able to do though. Kansas City is one of the best defenses in the NFL and has been a nuisance against opposing running backs. The Packers next three games are against the Giants, Buccaneers, and Panthers, three great matchups. Reed is a must-snag in any league where he’s available.

Green Bay Packers TE Tucker Kraft (Rostered in 6% of Yahoo leagues)

The tight end position is tough to nail down in fantasy, but Kraft could be a suitable option with Packers’ starter Luke Musgrave on IR. Musgrave was never an elite option at tight end, but he did post six games with at least seven PPR points. That’s a serviceable output for the tight end spot of your lineup.

Kraft may not be as talented, but he’s in line to pick up all the work that Musgrave left on the table. Plus, like I said with Reed, he’s about to face three abysmal defenses in the Giants, Bucs, and Panthers. If you need a tight end with upside, Kraft is the way to go.

Minnesota Vikings RB Ty Chandler (Rostered in 22% of Yahoo leagues)

The Minnesota Vikings were on bye this week, and that could be good for your chances of landing Chandler. People have already seemed to forget what Chandler was able to accomplish with a decent snap share in Weeks 10-12.

Chandler saw at least 30% of the offensive snaps in each of those games. He scored 10.5 PPR points, 15 PPR points, and…2.1 points. Yeah, that game against Chicago was not good, but that entire Minnesota offense struggled to get going in that one. I’m willing to look past that game because of the explosiveness he displayed in the previous two weeks. Furthermore, the return of Justin Jefferson in Week 14 could do wonders for the Vikings’ offense as a whole. At the very least, it should prevent their opponents from loading the box as often as they have.

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For the College Football Playoff selection committee, there was no right answer. There was no wrong answer, either.

But there was a safe answer.

And that safe answer was Alabama.

In choosing the one-loss Crimson Tide over the unbeaten Florida State Seminoles, the College Football Playoff put together a set of semifinal matchups that have the potential to deliver the most thrilling New Year’s Day in the history of the sport.

Alabama versus Michigan is a dream matchup. Washington versus Texas is a game pitting traditional powers that have come back from the abyss. And now, college football will move forward to a 12-team playoff starting next year, where the dilemma this committee faced won’t be relevant.

And in any other year, it would have punched their ticket to the playoff.

But given a choice among three teams for just two spots, the committee had to go with the team that it felt was better-equipped to compete in the playoff and had a better season overall. Despite having one loss, that was fairly clearly Alabama. The Crimson Tide’s third-best win, against LSU, matched Florida State’s best win of the season.

The ACC did the Seminoles few favors given that Clemson, North Carolina and others did not live up to expectations. Florida State didn’t get the opportunities to bank some of the massive wins that might have carried them over the finish line, even without QB Jordan Travis.

But if you’re on the selection committee, and you’re watching Florida State struggle to produce any offense against Louisville, you have to ask yourself: Is this really the same team going into the playoffs that it was for the first 10 weeks of the season? The answer was no.

You could also ask the same question about Alabama. Was the Crimson Tide the same team Saturday in beating Georgia for the SEC championship that had shown some significant vulnerabilities early in the year? Again, the answer was no.

Alabama’s trajectory has been fairly obvious. It’s been improving week by week. And with another month to prepare for the playoff, history says Nick Saban will have his team well-positioned to compete with Michigan.

Florida State was just too big of an unknown in the end. The committee chose safety. And it probably chose the team that had a better chance to win a national championship.

Is that unfair? Yes. But anything the committee would have done Sunday would have been unfair to somebody. That’s just the way it goes.

In some ways, the team that got the worst of it was Michigan. It’s not much of a reward to be No. 1 in the CFP semifinals when you have to face Alabama in a playoff game. And for the Wolverines, this is going to be the ultimate litmus test for whether the way they’ve built their program is capable of competing with the elite of the SEC.

And yes, that matters. Clearly, it matters.

Fans of other conferences don’t like to hear it. But the SEC does get a measure of privilege and benefit of the doubt. That’s what happens when you win 13 of the last 17 national titles. Sometimes the SEC may be a little bit overrated. And sometimes the amount of chest-beating can be difficult to stomach.

But you can’t deny that year in and year out, the top of the SEC is as good or better than what anybody else offers at the end of the season when it matters most. SEC teams usually prove that in the playoff.

It’s hard to imagine the committee didn’t have that in mind as well, in trying to choose between an Alabama team that had just taken out Georgia, and a Florida State team that was going to be a bit of a mystery heading into the semifinals.

For Florida State fans, it’s devastating. I sympathize with you. I hear you. I understand your outrage. But at the end of the day, it’s not hard to see why the committee did what it did.

Now college football has to move on, not just to the semifinals, but to a 12-team era where we won’t have situations like this anymore. There will still be complaints, but they will be far more picayune in nature.

The 10-year history of the College Football Playoff was not without its missteps and mistakes. But the last decision and the most controversial one will be difficult to criticize in the long run.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY

Good to know these last four months didn’t matter. That results on the field don’t matter.

Those are the only conclusions that can be drawn from the College Football Playoff selection committee’s decision to pass over an unbeaten, ACC champion Florida State for one-loss Alabama on Sunday. The committee members looked into their crystal balls and decided there was no possible way a Florida State team without its starting quarterback could compete, so why bother even letting them try? Especially when there was college football royalty Alabama there for the taking and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey reminding anyone who would listen that it’s an unwritten rule one of the four playoff spots is reserved for the SEC.

There’s a problem with that. Several, in fact. But none larger than the committee going against its own precedent and snubbing a Power Five conference champion that did everything right on the field — a perfect season that included three wins over top-20 teams, as well as wins over two SEC teams outside of Tallahassee, and one of the top defenses in the country — because of what its members “feel.”

That isn’t the pinnacle of competition. That’s a beauty pageant.

“It renders the season up to yesterday irrelevant,” Florida State athletic director Michael Alford said in a statement, not even trying to contain his rage.

“Wins matter. Losses matter. Those that compete in the arena know this. Those on the committee who also competed in the sport and should have known this have forgotten it,” Alford said. “Today, they changed the way success is assessed in college football, from a tangible metric – winning on the field – to an intangible, subjective one. Evidently, predicting the future matters more.’

Alford isn’t wrong. About any of it.

There is no question the committee had a difficult decision this year, its toughest in the 10 years of the playoff, after Alabama’s win over top-ranked and two-time defending champion Georgia in the SEC championship. Michigan and Washington were locks, but there were now four teams — Alabama, Florida State, Georgia and Texas — with legitimate cases for the final two spots. Somebody was going to be disappointed. Furious, even.

But it shouldn’t have been Florida State.

The committee looked at Alabama with stars in its eyes, thinking of all those other times Nick Saban has won the national title and envisioning a similar scenario next month. (That he can dispatch with the troublesome Jim Harbaugh along the way is an added bonus!)

Yes, Alabama has gotten better as the season has gone along. But let us not forget it was only a week ago the Crimson Tide needed a brain lapse by Auburn coach Hugh Freeze to win the Iron Bowl. Or that, for as dominant as Georgia has been, the one weakness Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have had is Alabama. How much extra credit do Saban and Alabama deserve for running their record against Smart and Georgia to 5-1?

“In the eyes of the committee, Florida State is a different team without Jordan Travis,” committee chair Boo Corrigan said, referring to the Seminoles’ starting quarterback, whose season ended when he broke his leg Nov. 18 against North Alabama. “One of the things we do consider is player availability.”

Except Travis was already out last week, when the committee moved Florida State back into the top four. The committee is also confident Alabama won’t have any injuries, cases of food poisoning or any other woes in the next month.

Perhaps they can tell us who will win next year’s election. Or what the winning lottery numbers for the next billion-dollar jackpot will be.

There is no perfect system that involves humans, who have their own biases and can be swayed by politicking. But this decision wasn’t just imperfect. It stinks and, let’s just go ahead and say it, it’s downright shady, dripping with SEC favoritism.

Florida State might not be able to help its conference opponents, but it did beat every single one of them. Scheduled and won non-conference games against LSU and Florida, too. Beat the Tigers by a wider margin than Alabama did, I might add.

And while the committee sees a lesser Florida State team without Travis, that lesser team beat Florida in Gainesville and, despite being down to its third-string quarterback against Louisville, ground out a win for the ACC title.

Again, when the playoff field is a subjective decision made by a collection of individuals, it’s always going to be open to criticism. That will still be the case next year, when the playoff expands from four teams to 12.

But the purest, most conclusive metric is results. Wins and losses. On that alone, Florida State had the better season. If the committee is going to disregard that, then what’s the point of a playoff at all? What’s the point of even having a season? Just pick the team, or conference, you want and anoint them as the national champion.

Florida State deserves better than what the selection committee did. All of college football does.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

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