Florida Sen. Rick Scott presses playoffs committee over exclusion of FSU

“Beyond the fury and heartbreak caused by the Committee’s decision, there are also financial implications that must be discussed,” he said.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott is livid with the College Football Playoff Selection Committee for its decision to exclude Florida State University despite its undefeated season as is demanding the panel provide him with documents related to the selection process.

The panel attributed its unprecedented snub of the Seminoles to the injury of starting quarterback Jordan Travis. The Universities of Michigan, Washington, Texas, and Alabama made the cut instead. Washington is slated to play Texas while Michigan will play Alabama.

“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,” Scott wrote to Committee Chairman Boo Corrigan.

“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,” he insisted. “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.”

“While I understand that the Committee considered the tragic, season-ending injury to FSU quarterback Jordan Travis, I am confused as to why this was not a factor in the previous week’s rankings,” he went on. “One week ago, the Committee chose to rank FSU as the 4th best team in the nation, moving them up from fifth place following the road-game win in Gainesville against the University of Florida Gators.”

“As you know, this win occurred after Mr. Travis’s injury. It’s difficult to understand how FSU’s next win, over the 14th ranked University of Louisville Cardinals, would reflect poorly on the team and result in a ranking drop and exclusion from the College Football Playoffs,” Scott continued. “There are countless other concerns and arguments that could be voiced here, but the main issue is the justified perception of an unfair system that has wrongly disregarded the known strengths of an undefeated team over the speculated impact of losing a single player.”

Scott concluded the letter by demanding a litany of documents and communications related to the exclusion of FSU.

Apart from Scott, both former President Donald Trump and Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis have fumed over the decision. DeSantis, for his part, has set aside $1 million in the state budget to handle potential legal costs related to the matter while Trump has blamed “DeSanctimonious” for a “really bad lobbying effort.”