Former President Donald Trump took to his social media platform Monday morning to suggest GOP presidential rival and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is to blame for the undefeated Florida State University football team not making the College Football Playoff—though there’s no evidence the governor is responsible for the eyebrow-raising snub.
The College Football Playoff Committee selected Alabama as the fourth team in the championship over ... [+]
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the school “was treated very badly by the ‘Committee,’” referring to the panel that selects teams for the playoffs, adding “Lets [sic] blame DeSanctimonious” for the “Really bad lobbying effort.”
DeSantis weighed in on Florida State not making the final field of four on Sunday after the decision was released, saying on X, formerly known as Twitter: “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.”
The selection chairman of the playoffs told ESPN the decision was made in part because Florida State is a “different team” without star quarterback Jordan Travis, who broke his leg last month—though the Seminoles won their last two games without Travis.
Florida State’s 13-0 team became the first unbeaten Power 5 winner to not make the College Football Playoff.
The College Football Playoff selection committee names four teams each year to compete for the CFP championship rather than going off season records, because college teams play schedules of varying difficulty throughout the season, according to CNN. Many were shocked Sunday, though, when it was revealed the Seminoles wouldn’t be one of the teams competing this year, after being beaten out by Alabama, the 12-1 champion of the NCAA Southeastern Conference. According to protocol, the CFP selection committee is supposed to select the teams based on conference championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, comparative outcomes of common opponents and other relevant factors, including “key injuries that … likely will affect its postseason performance.”
Though they aren’t competing for the championship, the Florida State Seminoles will play the Georgia Bulldogs in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 30 in Miami.