FL Sen. Rick Scott letter demands answers from CFP committee over FSU playoff snub: 'Shocking decision'
Florida Sen. Rick Scott is demanding answers from the NCAA College Football Playoff Committee after the Florida State Seminoles were left out of the playoffs despite an undefeated 13-0 season.
"Yesterday, for the first time in its 10 year history, the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee (the "Committee") made the shocking decision behind closed doors to exclude an undefeated, Power Five conference champion from the playoffs," Scott wrote in a letter to CFB Playoff Chairman Boo Corrigan after Florida State defeated Louisville 16-6 on Saturday to win the ACC Championship only to fall from 4th place in the playoff standings to 5th thus missing the playoff despite being undefeated.
"The Committee’s decision to drop the 13-0 Florida State University (FSU) Seminoles from its previous 4th-place ranking, and thereby exclude the team from the upcoming playoffs altogether, mere hours after they won the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship game 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," Scott continued.
"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."
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Sen. Rick Scott (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The college football world erupted into a fierce debate on Sunday when the top 4 teams who earned playoff berths were announced and Florida State was left out while Texas and Alabama, both who finished the season 12-1, made the playoffs.
Corrigan defended the committee's decision to leave Florida State out by pointing to the fact that the team lost its star quarterback, Jordan Travis, due to a season-ending leg injury in late November that changed the complexion of the team.
"Florida State is a different team than they were through the first 11 weeks," Corrigan said about the committee's decision. "It was an incredible season. But as you look at who they are as a team right now without Jordan Travis and without the offensive dynamic that he brings to it, they are a different team, and the committee voted Alabama No. 4 and Florida State No. 5."
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Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell issued a statement blasting the committee saying he was "disgusted" and "infuriated" with their decision.
"What is the point of playing games?" Norvell said. "Do you tell players it is okay to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play a senior on Senior Day for fear of injury? Where is the motivation to schedule challenging non-conference games? We are not only an undefeated P5 conference champion, but we also played two P5 non-conference games away from home and won both of them."
Travis posted on X that he was "devastated" and "heartbroken."
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Florida State Quarterback Jordan Travis ( James Gilbert/Getty Images)
"In so much disbelief rn, I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback," Travis posted. "I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!"
The college football playoff criteria used by the committee contains a section stating that "other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its playoff performance" are considered in the selection process.
In his letter, Scott wrote that the Atlantic Coast Conference and FSU "have been denied $2 million of revenue distribution" as a result of the decision which is "just a fraction of the total economic impact that playoff contention would have created for FSU."
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"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.
"While I doubt the Committee’s decision will be reversed to rightly reward FSU for its hard-fought, undefeated season as the Committee has done for other undefeated Power Five conference champions in recent years, I do believe that total transparency regarding how this decision was reached would do tremendous good for the Committee, the CFP as a whole, and the college football community."
Scott provided a list of 10 pieces of information he wants the committee to review and address including written communications between committee members leading up to the decision, notes, recordings, and other information related to the announcement.
Fox News Digital reached out to Corrigan but did not immediately receive a response.
Florida State will square off against Georgia, who many believe also deserved a playoff berth, on December 30.
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