“Since the BCS was created and the history of this, there’s never been an undefeated Power 5 team that was denied an opportunity to play for a national championship over a one-loss team.”

No. 4 Florida State, in its fourth season under head coach Mike Norvell, secured a 13-0 record and ACC Championship with a 16-6 over the No. 15 Louisville Cardinals.

The win gave the Seminoles their third victory over a current Top 25 team (No. 13 LSU, No. 22 Clemson). Overall, FSU has the most wins (eight) over bowl-eligible Power 5 teams and is currently No. 3 in ESPN’s Strength of Record rankings (which reflects the chance that an average Top 25 team would have team’s record or better, given the schedule).

With Alabama having upset Georgia in the SEC Championship the narrative for the Crimson Tide to jump into the top four of the College Football Rankings has hit an all-time high, which is further complicated by the fact that one-loss Texas, the team that beat them, stormed to a Big 12 title on Saturday.

According to DraftKings, Florida State has the best odds to make the playoff out of the three — the Seminoles sit at -400 odds, Texas at -300 and Alabama at +100.

After the win, Norvell addressed the emerging debate in a fairly unbothered manner.

The work they put in, the journey we’ve been on, the ups, the downs, the adversity that we’ve faced, tonight starting a true freshman quarterback in the ACC Championship game, not necessarily how we envisioned it, as we’ve been going through these last 13 games, but it was a football team that responded together, and that’s what we have. We have a real team, no matter how you’ve got to do it, no matter what it needs to look like, we find ways to win games.

This is a real team. It’s one that finds a way to win games. Whatever it needs to look like.

There’s plenty of teams that have talent. There’s plenty of teams that you could sit there and point to a moment here or a moment there, but it’s about getting the win. It’s about making sure that you show up and you do the things necessary to achieve in each situation, and we’ve done that on the road. We’ve done it at home. We’ve done it with a backup quarterback, and now we’ve done it with a true freshman quarterback. This team continues to find ways to make it happen.

You sit back and you look, since the BCS was created and the history of this, there’s never been an undefeated Power 5 team that was denied an opportunity to play for a national championship over a one-loss team.

There’s a reason. Because you have to earn it on the field. I don’t care how much talent you have. I don’t care what it looks like on a game or in a moment. You’ve got to get it done, and if you have all that ability, well, go finish. That’s what this team has done. This team has showed up week in and week out and they’ve worked for it.

We’ve had some one-play games. We’ve had some challenging moments that they had to respond, and that’s what makes a champion. These guys are champions.

You know what, if we get our opportunity, which I fully expect to get, this is going to be a team that’s going to continue to do all things necessary to put themselves in a position to go take the next step.

I believe in this football team. It’s funny there’s people that can count us out. Jordan Travis went down. That was a special player. He means everything to our program. When he went down, we still went on the road, and big rival, found adversity and responded to it and found a way to get a win.

Tonight, same thing. Adversity shows up, challenges set in, this team is built for it. I believe in them. I don’t care where, who, when. I’ve had 13 straight games this season, and the final six last season, and you know, we beat a lot of teams from all these different conferences that presumed are at this other — we show up and play and find a way to win, and that’s what this team has done.

I believe in this team 100 percent. I don’t care who, where, when we play. This team is going to show up and they’re going to battle. You can take any stat line. And we told our guys, tonight whatever it takes, if it’s offense, if it’s defense, we’ve got to help and we’ve got to respond and we’ve got to have each other’s back in situations.

We scored 16 points tonight. If somebody said you score 16 points, what’s it going to look like? Tonight it looked like a win. Something that will be remembered. It’s something that obviously our football team did what was necessary, right, to be able to achieve success.

Because that’s what it comes down to. You can have all the talent in the world, but it comes down to doing the things necessary to win games, and that’s what this team just consistently does.

It’s entertainment in some things to be able to have the conversation [of leaving FSU out], but I don’t think there is a conversation. We’re at Florida State. We open up a season with LSU on the road, maybe a Heisman Trophy candidate, maybe winner in their quarterback that — you know, we showed what we were about then defensively, special teams-wise, offense, the talent that we have.

The way that we’ve won games. To go on the road at Clemson. Nobody else was able to accomplish that. Some ranked teams went in there, but we were the only team that was able to beat them on the road, and it was tough.

We’ve been down in games. We’ve been down 10 points I think in three or four different games, and we responded. It’s not just like we came back — we came back and finished games. We came back and were able to do the things necessary to achieve victory.

I don’t think there is a conversation. This is a team that is well deserving. This is a team that has earned it. This is a team that has showed up consistently and proven that they have what it takes to win, and we’ve done it against more Power Five bowl eligible teams than anybody else out there.

So I don’t want to hear about the schedule. Actually we schedule a tough non-conference. We put ourselves out there, and then you embrace it in how you go about your business. This team, they’ve earned it.

Like I said, each week it changes what’s the hot team or the most talented team, but then when they lose a game, there’s a reason. This team has all the ability, and they just get it done.

We just beat a top-15 team with a true freshman quarterback. Like that doesn’t matter. I don’t care perspective what people think. We win. We win. You know what, if we get the opportunity to go play in the national semifinal, it’s going to be a challenge. I believe in this team. I believe in what they can do. I believe in who they are. You know what, they showed up every single week and done it.

So I don’t really care about what everybody else’s opinions are. I know who I coach, and I know we get the opportunity, they’re going to go fight for everything they get because they’ve been doing it the last four years, and whatever the next opportunity is, I promise you they’re going to show up.