Florida governor Ron DeSantis pledges $1 million for lawsuit against College Football Playoff
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is taking action in light of Florida State missing out on the College Football Playoff. According to the Tampa Bay Times, DeSantis will set aside $1 million to aid in a potential lawsuit against the CFP for the Seminoles’ snub.
FSU finished the season as an undefeated ACC Champion but was left out after starting quarterback Jordan Travis went down with a season-ending injury. The Seminoles are the first undefeated Power 5 conference champ to ever be left out of the field of four.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to even do that, but we are going to put aside $1 million and let the chips fall where they may on that,” DeSantis said.
Travis went down in the second-to-last game of the regular season against North Alabama. Florida State went on to win its next two games against Florida and in the ACC Championship against Louisville. However, the committee was unimpressed after the Seminoles managed just 55 yards passing in a 16-6 victory against the Cardinals.
Despite entering conference championship week at No. 4 in the CFP rankings, Florida State was jumped by one-loss SEC champion Alabama in the final rankings.
DeSantis said the Seminoles “earned a spot” in the College Football Playoff but were excluded in a “very, very controversial ruling.” He added that an undefeated season should “really be significant, and they’re telling us that it doesn’t — that other factors matter more.”
Even if a lawsuit does happen, it seems unlikely that anything would happen in time to put the Seminoles in the Playoff. The semifinals are set to take place in a little less than a month on Jan. 1, so time is not on the Florida lawmakers’ side. In fact, DeSantis admitted he isn’t sure what would come out of the potential litigation.
He isn’t the only Florida politician willing to back the effort, however. Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis wrote a letter to College Football Playoff chair Boo Corrigan in which he said he would have “no problem cutting those checks.”
“If your organization and its participants truly believe they made the right decision, then you can still appreciate that people are hurt and outraged over this decision…” Patronis wrote. “The future of college football is at stake, and the eyes of the sports world and the college football community are watching.”
Ultimately, we’ll have to wait to see how things play out and whether any action is taken. However, this is an interesting development to say the least.