Former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Sen. Rick Scott expressed their concerns this past week over Florida State University’s exclusion from the College Football Playoff.
On Sunday, Seminole fans from around the country were in disbelief as the CFP committee ranked both Texas and Alabama, who both won their respective conference championships in the Big 12 and the Southeastern Conference respectively on Saturday, ahead of Atlantic Coast Conference champion Florida State, who polls seeded third following their rivalry win over the University of Florida the previous week. Florida State is the first undefeated team to miss the CFP since the new playoff format was introduced.
Heather Dinich, an ESPN college football insider, explained the CFP Selection Committee weighed FSU star quarterback Jordan Travis’ guaranteed absence heavily in their decision, assuming the Seminoles would not be as strong without Travis despite winning two games without him.
“The Selection Committee watched football games together and saw how they unfolded, and then resorted to their protocol which allowed them to look forward and ask, ‘Can Florida State win a national title without Jordan Travis,'” Dinich said. “People need to know why Florida State was No. 5, period… They averaged 3.4 yards per play against Louisville, and the score was tied at three in the third quarter, while Alabama was beating the Committee’s No. 1 team,”
Amid the surrounding controversy, former President Donald Trump went to Truth Social, a social media platform, to express his opinions.
“Florida State was treated very badly by the “Committee.” They became the first Power Five team to be left out of the College Football Playoffs. Really bad lobbying effort… Let’s blame DeSanctimonious,” Trump said in a post on Monday.
In a news conference about his spending proposal for Florida’s $114.4 billion budget, Gov. Ron DeSantis asked for $1 million to allow FSU to sue the CFP committee for excluding FSU from the Playoffs.
“My first-grader, my fifth-grader, and my preschooler… They are all ‘Noles, and they are big-time fans, and they do the tomahawk chop, and they were not happy,” DeSantis said. “We are going to set aside $1 million and let the chips fall where they may.”
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott also shared his thoughts in a letter to CFP Selection Committee Chairman Boo Corrigan and demanded that there needed to be “total transparency from the committee regarding how this decision was reached and what factors may have been at play in reaching this outcome.”
In the letter, Scott also demanded access to all deliberation notes, recordings and written exchanges within the CFP committee with playoff company officials and board members on selecting Alabama over FSU. Additionally, Scott insisted on obtaining communication records with non-committee individuals and requested all statistical data and game videos considered by the selection panel for FSU’s season.
FSU head football coach Mike Norvell, despite frustration over the Seminole’s snub, had nothing but positive things to say about his players ahead of their next game.
“I’m proud of the work we have put in and the players I have the privilege to coach. We have one more opportunity to define this 2023 team in the Orange Bowl, and I believe in how our team will respond.”
The Seminoles will take on the Georgia Bulldogs in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.