Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has joined the growing chorus blasting the College Football Playoff committee for its decision to snub Florida State.
It was this past Sunday that the committee opted to put a one-loss Alabama Crimson Tide squad into the four-team playoff over an undefeated Florida State team. This decision was met by contempt from those around the college football world.
DeSantis proposed to set aside $1 million in Florida’s next budget to provide Florida State with funds to sue the committee.
“My first-grader, my fifth-grader and my preschooler … they are all Noles and they are big-time fans and they do the tomahawk chop and they were not happy,” DeSantis said during a press conference on Tuesday, via ESPN. “We are going to set aside $1 million and let the chips fall where they may.”
There is one minor problem with this. Any proposed budget will not be voted on by the Florida Legislature until months after the national champion is decided in January.
Related: College Football Playoff 2023-’24, final CFP rankings, CFP Semifinal predictions
Ron DeSantis not alone in being upset over Florida State snub
While DeSantis’s comments on Tuesday will likely do nothing of substance moving forward, his sentiment is shared by a ton of people around the college football world.
Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell recently said that he was “disgusted and infuriated” over Florida State being the first ever unbeaten Power 5 conference team to miss out on the playoff.
“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?”
Norvell said after snub
The committee’s decision came down to the team it perceived had the best chance of winning the national championship. Once star Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis went down with a season-ending injury, the decision seemed to be easy for those tasked with picking the four teams.
“Florida State is a different team than it was the first 11 weeks,” CFP selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan said. “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.”
Instead of the undefeated Seminoles earning a spot in the Final 4, it will be Alabama going up against Jim Harbaugh and No. 1 Michigan in one of the semifinals on Jan. 1. Texas and Washington will do battle in the other semifinal later that evening.
For their part, the Crimson Tide earned a spot in the CFP after defeating the No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game.
Regardless, Ron DeSantis probably has other things he should be more concerned about right now given that he’s in the midst of a presidential primary. Just some food for thought.