DeSantis sets aside $1 million of state money for Florida State College Football Playoff lawsuit

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced plans to set aside $1 million in the state’s annual budget on Tuesday for a possible lawsuit against the College Football Playoff selection committee over its decision to exclude the undefeated Florida State Seminoles from the four-team tournament.

The Seminoles were ranked fifth in the final standings after being undefeated all season and winning the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team was ranked behind Alabama, who went 12-1 and won the Southeastern Conference. The 12-1 Big 12 champion Texas Longhorns, the undefeated Big Ten champion Michigan Wolverines, and the undefeated Pac-12 champion Washington Huskies round out the top four.

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“We’re setting aside a million dollars for any litigation expenses that may become as a result of this really, really poor decision by the [College Football Playoff] to exclude an undefeated team who won a big Power Five conference championship,” DeSantis said during a press conference on Tuesday.

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“We had one of our schools, Florida State, go undefeated this year and win the conference championship. They earned a spot in the college football playoffs, and they were excluded from that, and I think was something that’s been very, very controversial,” he added.

The unprecedented decision to exclude an undefeated Power Five conference champion from the playoff was met with fierce backlash on Sunday, including from the governor.

“What we learned today is that you can go undefeated and win your conference championship game, but the College Football Playoff committee will ignore these results. Congratulations to [Florida State] on an outstanding season and winning the ACC championship!” DeSantis posted to the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) also trashed the move, sending a letter to the committee demanding “total transparency” on the committee’s decision to exclude the Seminoles. Scott requested the committee turn over text, emails, and notes related to the decision.

“The Committee’s decision to remove FSU from playoff contention is also difficult to understand given the Committee’s actions in prior years when ranking other undefeated, Power Five conference champions among the top four teams in the nation,” Scott wrote, according to the Hill.

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Scott admitted that part of the decision was likely due to the team losing its star player to an injury, which has taken him out for the season. But Scott said the committee was “wrongly” disregarding the entire team’s undefeated record “because of the loss of a single player.”

The Seminoles are expected to play in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30, 2023, against the Georgia Bulldogs.