SMQ: Why Florida State vs Alabama football was the most meaningless game of 2017

Final Takeaways

In the end, season-opening games between ranked teams really have little impact on the way both teams play out the course of their schedules. By December, Florida State’s loss to Alabama will affect nothing in terms of whether either or both teams win their conference titles.

These statement wins really don’t make as much of a statement as they are given credit. Wins in the season opener do not determine whether or where a team goes bowling. They do not determine conference championships. It merely offers a greater challenge right out of the gate for both schools as they march into the new season.

The one thing that might be said is that they do have some impact on computer rankings. But we are also no longer in the BCS era, where that actually meant something. And they only affect the computer rankings if the high-ranked team remains highly ranked.

These days, though, computers don’t matter in the equation.

Participation in the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six bowls is entirely contingent on the decision-making process of a dozen human selectors. Computers have little to no influence on that decision.

So now that they giddiness of the contest is fading away after a night of sleep, temper what you think happened last night in Atlanta. The Crimson Tide will remain at No. 1. The Seminoles will fall somewhere between No. 8 and No. 10 in the AP poll after Labor Day weekend. Both need only to look ahead, as it is what happens in conference play that will really determine both teams’ fates.

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Nothing has changed for these two contenders. All it really does is give Alabama a slightly bigger cushion to sustain a conference loss, as they have in recent years. But that benefit of the doubt was already inbuilt for the Crimson Tide by this point under Saban. And if the Seminoles run the table — or even just win the ACC at 11-2 with one conference loss to a team like Clemson or Louisville — they too will be in the College Football Playoff.

Saturday’s showdown in Atlanta was fun. It was also absolutely meaningless in the big picture of the 2017 season.