Florida State managed to win all its regular season games a year ago, but that never seemed to be good enough for the College Football Playoff committee.

Despite all the wins, the committee never had the Noles ranked No. 1. They entered the playoff ranked No. 3. Was it because the Seminoles played in too many close games or because they play in the ACC, perceived as the weakest Power 5 conference?

Was it a little of both?

ACC commissioner John Swofford said he would not be advocating for an expansion of the College Football Playoff anytime soon. Jim Dedmon/USA TODAY Sports

The committee maintained Florida State never really passed the "eye test." Perhaps the committee was vindicated given what happened in the Rose Bowl against Oregon. But the way the Seminoles were ranked had #FSUTwitter all atwitter in-season. It also has two Florida State board of trustees members expressing concern about where the ACC stands in the Power 5 structure. According to Warchant.com, trustees Joe Gruters and Edward Burr addressed athletic director Stan Wilcox at the most recent board meeting last month.

"I think the perceived bias of the ACC in general, [with] Florida State falling to No. 4 in the rankings and still being undefeated and being [No.] 3 at the end of the season … a one-loss ACC team or two-loss ACC team is going to have a hard time breaking that top four," Gruters said. "I think the top ACC team over the next four or five years, we're going to be in that [No.] 5 to 8 category. And we're going to be on the outside looking in."

They went on to ask Wilcox to push for an expansion of the playoff from four to eight teams.

Florida State's board of trustees is a strong group. Its chairman advocated for Bobby Bowden to be pushed out in 2009; a different chairman sent realignment speculation skyrocketing in 2012 after suggesting the Seminoles listen to the Big 12. These are folks unafraid to voice their opinions, unpopular or not.

While Gruters' and Burr's viewpoint on ACC perception is understandable given the disrespect the Seminoles were shown all season, those inside the league believe the ranking had little to do with the ACC itself. One coach directly pointed to the way Florida State played as the top reason why the Noles were downgraded. Is that Pollyanna? Perhaps. But if Florida State had run roughshod through its schedule last year the way it did in 2013, there is a good chance the Seminoles would have been ranked No. 1.

In comments made to ESPN.com last week, commissioner John Swofford said he was pleased overall with the way the playoff worked in Year 1, and he would not be advocating for an expansion any time soon. The reality of the situation is with four spots and five power conferences, at least one league is going to be left out. This past year, it happened to be a one-loss Big 12 team. Could the same fate befall a one-loss ACC team? Absolutely.

But as the Big 12 showed this past season, that is not a worry the ACC shares alone.