SMU coach Rhett Lashlee says excluding Mustangs from CFP would be ‘wrong to what college football stands for’

CHARLOTTE — SMU coach Rhett Lashlee was adamant near the start of his nearly 16-minute press conference following his team’s 34-31 loss to Clemson in the ACC Championship Game that he did not have a message for the College Football Playoff selection committee.

In his own words: “They don’t care what I say.”

Lashlee then made calculated remarks about SMU’s playoff outlook throughout the remainder of his nearly 16-minute press conference.

“I don’t have a message,” Lashlee emphasized.

Followed immediately by:

“It would be criminal if we’re not in. It would be wrong. It would be wrong on so many levels, not just to our team. It would be wrong to what college football stands for — to what it is.”

Maybe that isn’t a direct message, but it does sound like a coach banging the drum for his team as the playoff’s movers and shakers deliberate over what to do with SMU ahead of Sunday’s selection show.

Even Clemson coach Dabo Swinney went to bat for the Mustangs.

“That’s a really, really good football team,” Swinney said. “No way should they be punished. They are every bit of the eighth team in the country tonight. Every bit of it.”

Whatever the College Football Playoff Selection Committee decides could further shake the foundations of a playoff system that has undergone tremendous changes in recent years.

It boils down to a not-so-simple question: does the committee punish SMU for losing by three points on a walk-off field goal after it erased two separate 17-point deficits in a 13th game that almost 90% of FBS teams don’t have to worry about?

“Our team deserves a chance to be in,” Lashlee said. “It doesn’t matter what I say, but it would be incredibly wrong. I think it would be unprecedented. It would set a really bad precedent. It would…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/smu-coach-rhett-lashlee-says-excluding-mustangs-from-cfp-would-be-wrong-to-what-college-football-stands-for/

Author : Will Backus

Publish date : 2024-12-08 07:12:00

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