Sen. Rick Scott of Florida Sen. Rick Scott of Florida has waded into the College Football Playoff controversy, demanding that the sport’s selecti
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida has waded into the College Football Playoff controversy, demanding that the sport’s selection committee reveal details of its deliberations that eventually excluded Florida State from the postseason championship.
The Florida Republican on Monday sent a letter to Boo Corrigan, the selection committee chairman, urging the panel to turn over any written communications between itself and ESPN as well as the Southeastern Conference, whose champion, Alabama, was chosen over the Seminoles on Sunday.
“Beyond the fury and heartbreak caused by the Committee’s decision, there are also financial implications that must be discussed,” Scott wrote, noting that the Seminoles and the Atlantic Coast Conference will lose $2 million in revenue because FSU was passed over.
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“While this is a significant amount of money, it is just a fraction of the total economic impact that playoff contention would have created for FSU. Beyond the benefit to the university and its athletic program, the Committee’s decision will also likely have profound impacts on the future earnings and opportunities for the players,” Scott wrote.
The committee selected the Crimson Tide over FSU after Alabama beat Georgia in the SEC title game on Saturday. The upset ended the Bulldogs’ 29-game winning streak and ended Georgia’s bid for a third consecutive national championship.
Alabama will compete alongside Michigan, Texas and Washington in the playoffs.
While the committee signaled that its decision was partly based on the unavailability of FSU starting quarterback Jordan Travis, who suffered a season-ending injury a few weeks ago, the Crimson Tide also played far tougher opposition. Based on ESPN’s strength of schedule analysis, Alabama played the fifth-toughest schedule in the country, while the Seminoles’ played the 55th.
Yet, as Scott noted in his letter, FSU was the first undefeated major power to be left out of the playoffs in the 10-year history of the tournament.
Scott noted this “shocking decision” was made “behind closed doors.” Thus, he believes the committee should make its deliberations public.
That outcome “has rightly raised questions among millions of Americans about the integrity of the process employed by this 13-member body, which consists of just five (38%) individuals with relevant experience in coaching or playing football at the collegiate level or higher,” Scott wrote.
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“Today,” he added, “I write to demand total transparency from the Committee regarding how this decision was reached and what factors may have been at play in reaching this outcome.”
Scott admitted to being confused by the committee moving FSU into the top four based on its win against the Florida Gators, which came after Travis was injured, yet moved them back down after FSU beat the Louisville Cardinals for the ACC title.
Scott neglected to mention that FSU’s victory over the Cardinals was a mediocre affair, while Alabama ended the seemingly unstoppable run of the current juggernaut of college football.
“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,” Scott maintained.
“While I doubt the Committee’s decision will be reversed to rightly reward FSU for its hard-fought, undefeated season as the Committee has done for other undefeated Power Five conference champions in recent years, I do believe that total transparency regarding how this decision was reached would do tremendous good for the Committee, the CFP as a whole, and the college football community.”
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Accordingly, in addition to any written exchanges between the committee and ESPN or the SEC, the senator demanded that the committee turn over the “listing step” and “ranking step” votes of each member, any notes, recordings or reports about its deliberations on Sunday, and the statistical data and game video for the Seminoles that was reviewed by members.
“There are hopes, dreams and billions of dollars in economic activity that hinge on the decisions made by the 13-member group you lead,” he concluded to Corrigan. “Given the unprecedented nature of your recent decision, an unprecedented commitment to transparency is required.”
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