First things first: if anybody outside of Tallahassee wants to judge Florida State players for opting out of the Orange Bowl, after being told that winning all 13 of their games didn’t matter, then they are likely not somebody you need to be paying attention to.
Even more — if they’re using it as validation for leaving FSU out of the College Football Playoff, you definitely don't need to pay any attention to them.
This was not a case of “prove it,” given that FSU did just that over the course of the season by going undefeated and securing a Power 5 championship.