The top teams snubbed from the College Football Playoff and what they are doing instead

By Thomas Schlachter, CNN

(CNN) — College Football Playoff season has finally arrived, and over the course of the next four weeks, the best teams across America will battle it out to decide the nation’s best collegiate football team.

But while it’s the most wonderful time of the year for the 12 teams selected to feature in this season’s climax, for those who have been snubbed from the new playoff system, it came as an unwelcome, early lump of coal.

As always, at this time of year, the selection process is met with expected controversy. Who were the biggest teams to miss out this time around and how will they be spending their holiday season after being omitted by the committee? Let’s take a look:

Alabama Crimson Tide

For many, the biggest exclusion from the playoffs is ‘Bama.

The Tide finished the season with a 9-3 record and is the only team ranked inside the top 12 of the CFP selection committee’s final rankings to have not made it to the playoffs.

The committee chose the 11-2 SMU Mustangs, citing the ACC team’s unbeaten regular season conference record as the deciding factor.

“We looked at the number of wins that Alabama had against ranked opponents. We looked at SMU’s schedule and they were undefeated in conference. Their losses were to ranked teams but we also looked at Alabama’s loss to unranked teams,” said Warde Manuel, the University of Michigan athletic director who serves as chair of the committee.

“We value strength of schedule. That’s why Alabama as a three-loss team is ranked ahead of other teams that have two losses,” Manuel explained.

“We just felt that in this particular case, SMU still had the nod at 10 above Alabama, but it’s no disrespect to Alabama’s strength of schedule.”

The powerhouse is missing the playoffs for just the third time since the CFP began in the 2014 season and the Crimson Tide could now change how it chooses its future opponents after this year’s snub.

“I want to play competitive games, we want to play the best games,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said after missing out.

“It definitely wasn’t rewarded, it felt like, with our schedule and the wins we had against teams that were ranked or now ranked or even ranked at the time.”

The Crimson Tide will instead have to settle for playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl and face last year’s champion, the Michigan Wolverines, in Tampa, Florida.

Despite the disappointment, DeBoer said his team will be making the most of the last game of their season.

Miami Hurricanes

Another team on the cusp of the CFP was Miami.

Led by Heisman Trophy finalist and star quarterback Cam Ward, the team finished with a 10-2 record on the season but ended up No. 13 in the final CFP rankings.

In the December 3 (Week 14) rankings, the Hurricanes were ranked No. 12, behind the Crimson Tide, which ultimately ended their hopes of clinching a playoff berth – much to the dismay of Miami athletic director Dan Radakovich.

“Really?? ….what put Bama over the top of Miami for the last spot in is that Miami went 1-2 in their last 3 games (by an average of 4.5 pts, to a ranked Syracuse and GT team that just took UGA to 8OT),” he posted on X after the rankings were revealed. “Bama went 2-1 (to 5-7 Auburn, destroyed by OU, and beat FCS Mercer).”

Radakovich has since suggested that the timing of the final rankings needs to be changed looking ahead to future years after Manuel said some teams were “locked in” following Week 14’s rankings.

“It was a really, really difficult four or five days for the players, both at Alabama (and) at our place,” Radakovich said, per ESPN, ahead of Miami’s bowl game.

“They’ll do a ranking before Thanksgiving. You probably just let that stand, and then you have the championship games, and then the committee gets together that weekend and they make their final rankings,” Radakovich added.

While the Hurricanes missed out on the playoffs, they do have the small silver lining of playing in the now iconic Pop-Tarts Bowl.

The Hurricanes will take on the Iowa State Cyclones for the chance to get their hands on the brand-new Pop-Tarts Bowl trophy, which features a fully-functioning toaster to prepare the winners’ post-game treats.

South Carolina Gamecocks

It would not be the College Football Playoff if a local public figure didn’t weigh in on their team’s outcome and Daniel Rickenmann – mayor of Columbia, South Carolina – certainly made his feelings known.

“The Gamecocks should be in the college football playoffs,” Rickenmann posted to Facebook before stating he would be taking the decision further.

“The CFP committee’s recent ranking is a mistake. For this reason, I’m introducing a resolution of support for the Gamecocks to be in the college football playoff at the next city council meeting. The Gamecocks deserve a spot in the playoffs and we’ve been excited because of their hard work this entire season.

“Columbia is proud of our flagship university and its positive impact on our state. This team deserves recognition and the committee made its decision behind closed doors without a clear process. Throughout the season, the Gamecocks have consistently exceeded expectations and fought through adversity.”

The mayor went on to question how the committee picked the playoff teams.

“Clearly strength of schedule, losses to unranked teams, and margin of victory were not taken into account. The committee’s decision will result in lost benefit to our community which will be detrimental to Columbia. The Gamecocks are a top-12 team. Forever To Thee.”

The Gamecocks finished with a 9-3 record on the season and caught fire with a six-game win streak to end their 2024 campaign. Head coach Shane Beamer was equally as convinced that the team deserved a spot in the playoffs.

“Winning is hard and whether you win eight, nine, 10, it’s really hard to win football games, but it’s really, really hard to win football games in this league,” Beamer said on The Paul Finebaum Show before detailing the difficulty of his team’s schedule.

While Beamer admitted his team did lose to ‘Bama and Ole Miss, he stated that the committee has taken injuries into account in the past and should have done again this year with his team losing close games with key players missing.

After not reaching the postseason, the Gamecocks will instead be featuring in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, against the Illinois Fighting Illini on New Year’s Eve.

No Heisman winner?

There will be no Travis Hunter featured in this year’s CFP as the Heisman Trophy recipient’s Colorado Buffaloes failed to make the postseason tournament.

Hunter had a season for the history books in 2024, playing at both wide receiver and cornerback.

The Colorado stand-out averages a barely believable 118 snaps per game, per PFF. These are spread out evenly across both his roles with Hunter playing 709 offensive snaps on the season alongside 713 defensive snaps.

Hunter led the Buffaloes in receptions and receiving yards this season, amassing 1,152 yards on 92 receptions. Unsurprisingly, he also led the team in touchdowns with 15, including one rushing touchdown while also locking down wide receivers when playing on defense.

Hunter’s season won’t end with a chance at national championship glory but instead with 9-3 Colorado taking on the BYU Cougars in the Alamo Bowl.

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CNN’s Kyle Feldscher contributed to reporting.