TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State fans are seeing red after the undefeated team was unexpectedly excluded from the college playoffs. One fan in particular is using his political position to demand answers.
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a Republican from Florida, posted a letter Monday morning on X addressed to CFP Chairman Boo Corrigan. In the three-page letter, he called the College Football Playoff Selection Committee's decision to exclude FSU "shocking" and "unprecedented" and demanded "total transparency" in how the outcome was reached.
The Seminoles had a 13-0 season and took home the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship just days ago after quarterback Jordan Travis' season-ending injury. Still, the committee selected Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama as the top 4 teams to face off in this season's playoffs, despite Texas and Alabama each having lost a game.
Scott said the decision "has rightly raised questions among millions of Americans about the integrity of the process employed by this 13-member body, which consists of just five (38%) individuals with relevant experience in coaching or playing football at the collegiate level or higher."
The senator looked beyond the "fury and heartbreak" caused by the committee to point out that the decision will have financial implications for the FSU football program, the players' future earning opportunities and the university as a whole.
"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 wrote, referencing Travis' broken leg.
He then requested a record of any notes, recordings or other communications between the board members as well as the CFP's ethical and conflict of interest standards.
Sen. Scott wasn't the only politician to weigh in on the FSU snub — Gov. Ron DeSantis also called out the CFP committee in a post on X.
“Florida State is a different team without Jordan Travis,” CFP selection committee chair Boo Corrigan said on Sunday. “One of the things we do consider is player availability, and our job is to rank the best teams, and in the final decision looking at that, it was Alabama at 4 and Florida State at 5.”
The Seminoles beat rival Florida without Travis, then topped Louisville 16-6 for the ACC title on Saturday.
“I’m hurting for our players who have displayed a tremendous amount of resilience and response this season,” Florida State coach Mike Norvell said Sunday. “What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football. A team that overcame tremendous adversity and found a way to win doing whatever it took on the field was cheated today. It’s a sad day for college football.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.