By now, whether you’re a fan of college football or not, you’ve probably heard about the undefeated Florida State Seminoles being snubbed by the College Football Playoffs Selection Committee on Sunday.
Instead of promoting FSU to the third overall CFP ranking after beating the 14th-ranked Louisville Cardinals for the ACC Championship, they dropped two positions to number five.
The two programs that blazed a path to move beyond the Seminoles were the Alabama Crimson Tide and Texas Longhorns. The only problem is both teams lost a game this year, a complaint that cannot be levied against 13-0 Florida State.
Even Alabama’s Nick Saban thinks the Seminoles were snubbed for reasons unrelated to their accomplishments this season.
“Florida State, certainly, going undefeated did everything they could to get into the playoffs. Unfortunately, probably because of the injury to their quarterback, are not going to have that opportunity.”
Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
FSU’s starting quarterback, Jordan Travis, was a Heisman Trophy contender until he went down for the year with two weeks to go in the regular season. Still, the Seminoles kept winning, and even legal online football betting sites assumed they’d be among the final four CFP programs.
If the Georgia Bulldogs had beaten Alabama in the SEC Championship Game, Florida State would have likely made it to the playoffs. Why?
The Alabama win made the committee consider Texas more closely since they had beaten the Crimson Tide by ten points in their house. Had the Bulldogs beaten Alabama, the Texas win would have meant less against a two-loss team.
What’s unexplainable is how the CFP Selection Committee disregarded Texas’ loss to the Oklahoma Sooners at home. Oklahoma finished 10-2 and didn’t even make it to the Big 12 Championship Game.
The Sooners regular season loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys is yet another reason the Seminoles missed the CFP.
Florida Governor, and 2024 Presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis weighed in on the subject by offering $1 million to anyone who pursues a lawsuit against the CFP outcome that left FSU out in the cold.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to even [pursue a lawsuit], but we are going to put aside $1 million and let the chips fall where they may…”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
US Senator from Florida Rick Scott has also been vocal on the omission of the Seminoles. Scott inked a three-pager to Boo Corrigan, the chair of the College Football Playoffs Selection Committee, spelling out a list of demands.
The letter also requests written correspondence and other physical evidence related to the decision.
“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,”
Excerpt From Senator Rick Scott’s Letter To Boo Corrigan, CFP Selection Committee Chair
The Seminoles will face Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. College football betting sites have yet to produce odds until they learn more about FSU’s quarterback situation.