Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the College Football Playoff Commission on Tuesday and said he was requesting $1 million from the state budget to allow Florida State to sue the commission over its decision to exclude the team from the playoff.
DeSantis spoke about the decision at a news conference related to his spending proposal, which calls for a $114.4 billion budget for Florida. DeSantis said his children are Seminole fans and were not happy about FSU being left out of the playoff.
“My first grader, fifth grader, preschooler…they’re all hobbyists and they’re big fans and they cut tomahawks and they weren’t happy,” DeSantis said. According to the Associated Press. “We’ll put $1 million aside and let the chips fall where they may.”
It will take months before the budget is approved, and DeSantis’ recommendation will merely be a suggestion to the Florida Legislature. The group begins its annual session in January to determine the spending plan. Once that plan is approved, DeSantis will be able to veto individual elements.
Florida State, which went 13-0 and won the ACC Championship Game, fell to fifth in the final rankings Sunday, behind Michigan (13-0), Washington (13-0), Texas (12-1) and Alabama (12-1). . ). The Longhorns and Crimson Tide moved ahead of FSU after winning the Big 12 and SEC championships, respectively.
The NFL lost star quarterback Jordan Travis to a gruesome leg injury suffered in a game against North Alabama on Nov. 18, but he went on to win two crucial games with backup quarterbacks Tate Rodemaker and Brock Glenn. The committee cited Travis’ injury as a reason to drop the FFA.
“In the eyes of the committee, Florida State is a different team without Jordan Travis,” committee Chairman Beau Corrigan said Sunday. “One of the things we take into consideration is player availability, and our job is to rank the best teams, and in the final decision looking at that, Alabama was fourth and Florida State was fifth.”
Others besides DeSantis expressed anger at the snub, with Florida State football coach Mike Norvell saying he was “disgusted and angry” by the committee’s decision Sunday to leave the Seminoles out of the four-team field. FSU is the first undefeated Power 5 conference champion to miss the playoff.
“What’s the point of playing games? Do you tell players it’s OK to quit if someone goes down? Do you not play Senior Day for fear of getting injured? What’s the motivation to schedule tough non-conference games? What’s the point of playing games?” Norvell said.
FSU athletic director Michael Alford said the committee “failed college football” with the decision.
Florida State is scheduled to face Georgia in the Orange Bowl on December 30.
Required reading
(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”