On Monday, a sitting US Senator sent a strongly-worded letter to Boo Corrigan, who sits on the College Football Playoff committee, demanding answers to why the committee dropped Florida State out of the top four teams on Sunday.
The committee made a controversial decision to exclude FSU after the team finished their season undefeated and won the ACC Championship Game Saturday night. Texas and Alabama jumped from seventh and eighth last week to third and fourth in the final ranking.
Florida Senator Rick Scott, who is running for re-election in 2024, wrote a three-page letter to the committee demanding text messages, emails, and other communication on Dec. 3 between committee members, the SEC, and ESPN.
One can draw their own conclusion as to why Scott purposefully mentioned communications with the SEC and ESPN in addition to the committee.
A US Senator wants transparency on Alabama>Florida State
Scott wrote that he wished for transparency from the committee on why they chose to exclude an undefeated Power 5 team in an unprecedented fashion. Scott wrote the committee’s decision caused financial implications for FSU:
“Today, I write to demand total transparency from the Committee regarding how this decision was reached and what factors may have been at play in reaching this outcome.
Beyond the fury and heartbreak caused by the Committee’s decision, there are also financial implications that must be discussed. The ACC and FSU have been denied $2 million of revenue distribution from the CFP due to the Committee’s decision to remove the Seminoles from playoff contention.
While this is a significant amount of money, it is just a fraction of the total economic impact that playoff contention would have created for FSU. Beyond the benefit to the university and its athletic program, the Committee’s decision will also likely have profound impacts on the future earnings and opportunities for the players.
The Committee’s decision to remove FSU from playoff contention is also difficult to understand given the Committee’s actions in prior years when ranking other undefeated, Power Five conference champions among the top four teams in the nation.”
The full letter can be found on Rick Scott’s website. It’s unclear if the committee intends to respond to Scott’s request. The committee has no incentive to do so.
Scott might have scored some cheap political points with his constituents, but the damage the committee did to FSU’s season cannot be undone at this point.
Florida’s politicians are upset with the playoff committee
Even so, Florida politicians seem serious about looking into the matter further. One has to remember that the committee kept UCF from competing in the playoffs when the program had two undefeated regular seasons in a row. The Sunshine State has more cause than any to demand answers from the committee.According to Gary Fineout with Politco, multiple officials in Florida are looking into lawsuits:“Scott’s missive may be the first in a series of actions suggested or proposed by Florida politicians. Some state legislators have called for lawsuits, while Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) in a social media post called the bypassing of FSU a “corrupt decision” driven by television money.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), an FSU alumnus, labeled the selection committee “trash” in a social media post. Gov. Ron DeSantis said in his own post on X, formally known as Twitter, that “what we learned today is that you can go undefeated and win your conference championship, but the College Football Playoff committee will ignore these results.” DeSantis said on Fox News on Monday evening that he was proposing to set aside $1 million in his upcoming budget recommendations “in case there ever is any litigation.”
Scott’s letter might be toothless, but the publicity could steer the public appetite into a legal battle. A court battle might be the public’s best chance to discover what goes behind the curtain when the committee determines the four “best” teams.
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