ACC Head Coach Has Eye-Opening Question About One Major CFB Conference

Although the last college football season is long gone, people are still not over the fact that Florida State was left out of the College Football Playoff.

The Seminoles did everything right on their end, going undefeated in the regular season and also winning their conference title game. However, their starting quarterback Jordan Travis saw his season end early due to a gruesome injury, which was too impactful for the committee to give them the nod.

While many people may just want to move on from the whole discourse of whether or not they deserved to get in, the ACC programs are clearly taking a united front about their fellow conference members. New Duke head coach Manny Diaz addressed the matter at the ACC Kickoff Event on Wednesday, and broke down exactly why he thinks the ACC and Florida State don't get enough credit.

“Well, think about the game that got everybody bent out of shape about Florida State. They beat Louisville for the ACC Championship,” Diaz said. “What did Louisville do? Louisville beat the heck out of Notre Dame, which by the way, Duke had Notre Dame beat on a fourth-down-and-long. What did Notre Dame do? Notre Dame was a dropped interception away from beating Ohio State.

“And I know it’s a tricky game in college football to compare scores but what did Ohio State do? Ohio State had the ball, in Ann Arbor, driving down the field down by 6, to win the game against the team that became the national champion.”

He also questioned what it would have taken for Florida State to get in, considering their close matchup with Louisville was unacceptable but others around the country were fine with their close wins.

“So everybody hated on Florida State because they only beat Louisville 16-6," he said. "Louisville was a hell of a team. How do we know? Well, they hammered Notre Dame. The point is what do you get credit for then?”

Diaz also used this time to bring attention to other solid teams in the ACC, citing NC State as a team that deserved more respect. In doing so, he also hinted at the fact that the Big Ten gets more credit than it deserves, highlighting just how uncompetitive that league can be and why they are put on a pedestal.

“I’m watching from afar," Diaz continued. "How come when Duke beats Clemson it’s ‘what’s wrong with Clemson?’ NC State — there’s not a team in the Big Ten conference like NC State. Nobody talks about it. We were in the Big Ten for two years. We were 0-4 against Michigan and Ohio State with Penn State. I think the first game I was there against Coach Brohm’s offense we beat Purdue by one score. I don’t think we played anybody else within single digits the last two years I was there.

“So having been in this league for six years, on two separate occasions, and then going to the Big Ten conference, I can see firsthand how good this football league is. Watch Georgia Tech’s offense against Georgia in that game. Look what Virginia Tech did down the stretch. These are real things. All you’ve gotta do is put the film on and watch it and you can see what’s going on in this league.”

The former Miami and current Duke head coach is clearly adamant that the ACC can hang with the Big Ten and SEC, and while Florida State will never receive justice for their snub, the expanded playoff will allow for the ACC to truly make a statement.