After Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) and several other Florida lawmakers demanded “full transparency” from the College Football Playoff selection committee after undefeated Florida State were left out of the playoffs, one of the top decisoon makers is answering about just why the Seminoles were left out.
Scott previously sent a letter for the CFP committee chairman Boo Corrigan after Florida State became the first undefeated Power 5 team left out of the playoffs, demanding to see the votes of each member of the committee.
On Friday, CFP executive director Bill Hancock responded to the demands in a letter explaining the decision.
“Everyone on the Committee understands the disappointment felt by Florida State fans,” Hancock wrote in the letter. “We recognize that no matter what decision was made, fans somewhere would be disappointed. … The Committee members are confident they made the right decisions in ranking the best four teams in the country based on the protocol and we all look forward to great playoff games.”
According to Hancock, Florida State was ranked at No. 5 — and out of a playoff spot for two key reasons: injuries and strength of schedule.
The letter explained the selection committee uses a protocol that requires injuries to be taken into consideration.
Quarterback Jordan Travis’ season-ending injury in November, which came before the ACC title game, “caused the committee to believe that there were indeed four teams that should rank higher than FSU.”
Despite the letter, Scott posted on X that he was not satisfied with the explanation.
The @CFBPlayoff just responded to my letter with more excuses & still NO TRANSPARENCY,” the senator wrote. “@FSUFootball was #4 before beating #14 Louisville without Jordan Travis…but then after that win, the CFP thinks #FSU is a weaker team? It makes no sense. ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS!”
When news of the snub broke earlier in December, the injured Travis took to the social media platform X to share his discontent.
“Devastated,’’ Travis wrote on X. “Heartbroken. In so much disbelief [right now], I wish my leg broke earlier in the season so y’all could see this team is much more than the quarterback. I thought results matter. 13-0 and this roster matches up across any team in those top 4 rankings. I am so sorry. Go Noles!”
Without Travis in the mix, Florida State won the ACC title with freshman third-stringer Brock Glenn playing under center.
Still, the selection committee chose Michigan, Washington, Texas and Alabama for this year’s playoff.
Both Texas and Alabama suffered one loss this season.
Hancock’s letter also explained that the strength of schedules influenced the selection committee’s decision, saying the four playoff teams faced harder competition than Florida State.
“Everyone on the Committee understands the disappointment felt by Florida State fans,” Hancock wrote. “We recognize that no matter what decision was made, fans somewhere would be disappointed. … The Committee members are confident they made the right decisions in ranking the best four teams in the country based on the protocol and we all look forward to great playoff games.”
On Tuesday, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody announced an antitrust investigation to look into the decision to leave the Seminoles out of the playoff.
“We are looking for more information. We are looking for more transparency, to determine whether or not our laws were violated. Certainly, not every investigation leads to suit, but many do. That is what this process will be about,” Moody said in a video statement.
“FSU proved that they deserved to be in the playoffs,” Moody continued.” If the selection committee believes that is not the case, and there was truth in that deliberative process and they truly followed their protocols, then we expect them to be cooperative and provide us all of this information.”