FSU claims title of college football's most hated team

Matt Hayes

FSU claims title of college football's most hated team image

1. I don’t want to get on a soapbox, but . . .

In case we needed any more evidence, the call from the back judge emphatically cemented it.

Florida State is the most hated team in college football.

This undeniable truth, this defiant spear in the ground, clearly revolves around the I Can Do Anything And You Can’t Stop Me career of superstar quarterback Jameis Winston.

But don’t kid yourself: FSU coach Jimbo Fisher — who apparently is now afraid of the mean media — and the university's administration are complicit, too. And it all translates to a heaping helping of motivation for the defending national champions.

You want us? Come and get it.

“This team has a way of rising above it all,” says FSU wideout Rashad Greene.

And using it as ammunition.

Say what you want about the ‘Noles, aim all the arrows of discontent their way. They don’t care.

It’s about football; it’s about making a play at the very moment your team desperately needs it — and twisting the knife just a little deeper on everyone who hates.

No one did that better than the Miami teams of the early 1990s, a group of elite athletes who were symphonically sweet in their swagger and attitude. Then there’s the longtime hate of Notre Dame and its brand of high-value passion. 

The Irish scale of justice has always been fairly simplistic: either you fall at the feet of all things Dome — or you hate the ever-loving Grotto out of anything remotely close to Touchdown Jesus.

FSU, however, has hit a new level. At one point during Saturday night’s come-from-behind win over Notre Dame, it was clear the momentum hate had swung to Tallahassee.

Even Notre Dame haters were full-blown Irish fans, smothering social media with overreactions to anything remotely successful or controversial with FSU. Because it’s easy to hate.

It’s easy when Fisher, after every Winston misstep (you say problem, Jimbo says misstep), reminds us all that Winston “is a good kid.”

It’s easy when the Tallahassee Police Department at best botches an investigation into sexual assault, and at worst plays favorites with an alleged serious crime that involves the best player on the university football team.

It’s easy when the athletic department’s response to a crime committed by Winston — stealing from a grocery store — merits an athletic suspension. For three games from the baseball team. 

It’s easy when the university, despite more than 2,000 memorabilia items with Winston’s signature — some reportedly placed in the exact same spot on the exact same memorabilia — believe Winston when he says he wasn’t paid a dime.

Because, haters, what has Winston done to lose the university’s trust?

Last Friday, the university released a statement backing Winston over his connection to a memorabilia broker. The release was dated Sept. 17, 2014 — a month off, but nearly to the day of the last time the university publicly released a statement on yet another of those Winston missteps.

Cut them some slack, OK? It can’t be easy coming up with excuse after excuse after excuse.

Then again, maybe that’s just a Word document template. Insert name, insert misstep and, most important, insert “allegedly.”

Yeah, I don’t know why FSU is now the most hated team in college football.

2. Blur Ball

The following is a public service announcement:

Chip Kelly’s NCAA show cause edict ends Dec. 26, 2014.

Merry Christmas, Michigan and Florida.

3. The high cost of losing

There’s no easy way to do it. It’s a grown-man decision in a grown-man world — and an absolutely gut-wrenching process for those who have to make the choice.

Look, coaches know what they’re getting into when they sign the papers that make them multimillionaires. They know the potholes and the blame game and that ultimately, you’re not defined by who you are but by how many games you’ve won.

The coaching world is full of good guys, men who truly got in it for the right reasons but were forced out by a bottom-line business. So when you see men like Florida AD Jeremy Foley and Michigan AD Dave Brandon or any other athletic director agonizing over potential coaching changes, it’s more than just pulling a trigger.

More times than not, it’s ending a friendship — and a dream.

It’s a journey of two men who a few years ago sat down and mapped out a plan to bring State U. a championship program and change lives for student-athletes. You may think it’s hokey, but it’s reality.

Want to know why Foley, after Florida lost to then-FCS Georgia Southern at home last season, said he believed in Will Muschamp 1,000 percent? Because he did, and I guarantee he still does.

Want to know why Brandon has bowed his back even more with the nuclear criticism of Hoke? Because he believes in him to this very day.

Want to know why Pat Haden kept saying he believed in Lane Kiffin 110 percent? Because he did every time — until the journey reached its final turn. 

And when it all goes bad for one reason or another, when change must happen, it’s a major life decision.

“It’s devastating for everyone involved,” former Colorado coach Dan Hawkins told me last year. “The coach, his assistants, their families; everyone. You’ve poured your heart and soul into it for years, and the next thing you know, there’s nothing left.”

They walk away with million-dollar buyouts, and many coaches live to do it all over again. But no amount of money ever soothes the gut punch of failure. For coaches or athletic directors.

4. Next man up

John Wooden once said a coach’s best friend is the bench.

There’s no better way to change behavior than eliminating playing time. It’s the one true language every player speaks.

Now transcend that concept to following rules, to putting the team before individual needs, and see how important Nick Chubb has become not only to Georgia, but every coach in college football.

​You want to break NCAA rules, Todd Gurley? Fine, we’ll just go with the next guy on the depth chart.

And he’ll play better than you.

“I’m just holding it down until (Gurley) gets back,” Chubb said.

He’s doing so much more than that and he doesn’t even know it.

In two games, Chubb has led Georgia to two key SEC road victories (Missouri, Arkansas) by putting the team on his massive frame and taking over. You think Gurley was important for Georgia? Check this out:

Chubb had 42 touches against Missouri (38 carries, four receptions) and 31 against Arkansas (30 carries, one reception) for 384 yards and three touchdowns.  Without Chubb, Georgia doesn’t win either game.

Without Chubb, Georgia isn’t leading the SEC East Division and controlling its destiny to play in the SEC Championship Game. Without Chubb, Georgia is merely an afterthought in the College Football Playoff picture instead of a sneaky possibility.

If that doesn’t explain the true value of Chubb, maybe this will: Chubb’s play has ended talk of Gurley’s Heisman Trophy campaign by severely minimizing Gurley’s value.

The same value Gurley tried to manipulate by making money off signed memorabilia.

5. The Weekly Five

Five things USC athletic director Pat Haden said to LenDale White last week before having him tossed out of the Coliseum:

1. “Salads.”

2. “I always thought Reggie Bush was better.”

3. “Come back any time — as long as you’ve got Pete Carroll with you.”

4. “Even Kiffin thought you were a prima donna.”

 5. “We both know I could beat you in a 40 right now.”

6. Finishing strong

It can no longer be debated: The Big 12 is desperate for a conference championship game. And Oregon is going to prove it.

Follow along, everyone, it’s actually very simple.

Oregon lost at home to Arizona earlier this month, a game that, on the surface, was damaging to the Ducks’ College Football Playoff hopes. But understand this: The CFP selection committee will take into consideration special circumstances, such as the injury-ravaged Oregon offensive line that couldn’t protect star QB Marcus Mariota in the loss to Arizona.

The same offensive line that is now complete again, and paving the way for the resurgence of Mariota and a Ducks offense that last week scored 48 points on a very good Washington defense. If Oregon wins out and plays in the Pac-12 Championship Game, it could be against Arizona or any of the deep and talented South Division teams.

Win there, and it’s CFP here we come.

Where does this impact the Big 12, you ask? Right here: While Oregon is playing in the Pac-12 Championship Game, TCU — which looks like the Big 12’s best hope to win the conference championship — will be playing Iowa State.

Even if Kansas State wins out and plays at Baylor in the final week of the regular season, it’s not the same type of game or environment. A conference championship game is a one-game, winner-take-all format with everything on the line for both  teams.

If a one-loss Big 12 team is passed over by the CFP, watch how quickly the Big 12 reassesses its round-robin format for a divisional setup.

7. SEC math

As crazy as it sounds, there’s a very real possibility the SEC West Division ends in a three-way tiebreaker. Here’s how it happens:

— Ole Miss gets four wins (at LSU, Auburn, Presbyterian, at Arkansas), but loses at home to Mississippi State on Nov. 29 and finishes 11-1 overall, 7-1 in SEC.

— Mississippi State gets five wins (at Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee-Martin, Vanderbilt, at Ole Miss), but loses at Alabama on Nov. 15 and finishes 11-1, 7-1.

— Alabama wins out (at Tennessee, at LSU, Mississippi State, Western Carolina, Auburn) and finishes 11-1, 7-1.

Should this happen, the SEC has a tiebreaker formula with many different levels, and should none of the tiebreakers produce a champion — a distinct possibility — the SEC will determine the West Division champion by (dramatic pause) … a coin flip. With three teams, each team gets a flip and the team with the odd result plays in the SEC Championship Game.

Imagine that 30-minute drama show/infomercial for the SEC Network. 

8. Win out, win big

We're at the point in the college football race where every possible scenario involving the College Football Playoff invariably begins with, “If (insert team) wins out, then what?”

Here are five teams who, if they win out, are guaranteed a spot in the CFP, no matter what anyone else does (ranked by easiest road). Everyone else in the field needs help.

— Florida State (at Louisville, Virginia, at Miami, Boston College, Florida, ACC Championship Game): A cakewalk. The last team among that group to beat the ‘Noles was Florida in 2012 — and this Gators team is nowhere near that group. Biggest obstacle: complacency.

— Oregon (at Cal, Stanford, at Utah, Colorado, at Oregon State, Pac-12 Championship Game). As long as the Ducks steer clear of more injuries on the offensive line, they’re clear favorites in every game. Biggest obstacle: Pac-12 Championship Game.

— Georgia (Florida in Jacksonville, at Kentucky, Auburn, Georgia Tech, SEC Championship Game). Biggest obstacle: SEC Championship Game. No matter who escapes the West, it’s a bad matchup for Georgia, which still hasn’t proven it can throw the ball well with QB Hutson Mason in critical spots.

— Ole Miss (see schedule breakdown above). When was the last time you saw a team go unbeaten and play for it all without any consistent run game? Jaylen Walton is the team’s leading rusher (347 yards), but QB Bo Wallace might be the most consistent run threat. Biggest obstacle: Auburn, Nov. 1.

— Mississippi State (see schedule breakdown above): The Bulldogs are protected for much of the second half of the season. Games against Arkansas and Alabama are sandwiched around a break game against FCS Tennessee-Martin, and a home game against Vanderbilt separates road trips to Alabama and Ole Miss. Biggest obstacle: at Alabama, Nov. 15.  

9. Standing tall

So here is David Helton: your typical Duke football player (he'll graduate in four years, 3.6 GPA, active in the community) with an atypical look at the stereotypes student-athletes today face.

This week’s Hayes Good Guy is an All-ACC linebacker and team captain, and someone who believes college football players aren’t close to the narrative that’s floated on a daily basis.

“Unfortunately, too much emphasis these days is placed on the wrong and the wrongdoers,” Helton said. “It’s entertainment and at the end of the day, people want to be entertained. But a majority of college football players are great students and great people. And we’re players.”

Here’s a guy who led the ACC in tackles last season and is third this fall, and who was recently named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, an award that recognizes the best student-athlete in the nation. And a player who embraces the idea of life in the spotlight.

“Like it or not, we are role models because young kids look up to sports figures,” Helton said. “I personally enjoy it, not because of the attention, but because I can effectively help change the lives of others. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about; how many lives we touch.”

10. The conference of quarterbacks

USC plays at Utah on Saturday, and if you East Coast Bias folks ever needed a reason to stay up past beauty sleep, this is it.

USC’s Cody Kessler (he threw  seven  TD passes last week) vs. Utah’s Travis Wilson. The two quarterbacks have combined for one — ONE — interception in 344 attempts. So it will end around 2 a.m.; big deal. 

Put on your big boy pajamas and suck it up.

VIDEO: The team everyone loves to hate

Matt Hayes