TALLAHASSEE, FL — Three days after the College Football Selection Committee decided to leave an undefeated Power Five Conference champion, Florida State, out of the College Football Playoff, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis plans to allocate $1 million for any litigation expenses the school might accrue as a result of any lawsuits Florida State seeks in the future.
“I have included in my budget recommendations $1 million for litigation expenses that might come as a result of the NCAA’s poor decision to exclude our undefeated Florida State Football team from the college football playoffs,” DeSantis tweeted.
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Florida State seemed like a lock for the College Football Playoff near the end of the season before the Seminoles lost star quarterback Jordan Travis on November 18 against Northern Alabama. Travis exited the contest with a “lower leg injury” that ruled him out for the rest of the year. Despite losing Travis, the Seminoles won their final two games, including the ACC Championship against Louisville, to finish the 2023 regular season perfect.
When it came time for the Selection Show, Florida State still felt confident that the resume the Seminoles put out this season was enough to give them an opportunity to compete for a National Championship. They were wrong. The College Football Playoff Committee handed unbeaten Michigan the 1-seed, unbeaten Washington the 2-seed, the one-loss Texas Longhorns the 3-seed, and finally the one-loss Alabama Crimson Tide the 4-seed.
Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell expressed his disgust after watching the unfortunate events unfold.
“I am disgusted and infuriated with the committee's decision today to have what was earned on the field taken away because a small group of people decided they knew better than the results of the games," Norvell said in a statement. "What is the point of playing games? Do you tell players it is OK 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 nonconference games?"
Florida State Football
(Credit: seminoles.com)
"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. I don't understand how we are supposed to think this is an acceptable way to evaluate a team. What happened today goes against everything that is true and right in college football."
Florida State losing Travis late in the year definitely hurt the Seminoles’ chances, and the Playoff Committee confirmed that notion.
"Florida State is a different team than it was the first 11 weeks," CFP selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan told ESPN. "As you look at who they are as a team right now, without Jordan Travis, without the offensive dynamic he brings, they are a different team, and the committee voted Alabama four and Florida State five."
The state government and Florida State University haven’t sued over the snub yet, and it remains unclear whether the Seminoles will file suit or on what grounds they could sue. Many people on Twitter have already condemned what Governor DeSantis plans to do as a waste of taxpayer dollars.
No. 5 Florida State will face the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs in the Capital One Orange Bowl on December 30.
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