U.S. Sen. Rick Scott followed up his scathing criticism of the decision to exclude Florida State University (FSU) from this year's College Football Playoff with an official letter demanding the selection committee hand over detailed information that led to the decision.
FSU had an undefeated season and won the Atlantic Coast Conference in a defensive slugfest even though the team was relying on its third-string quarterback. But the College Football Playoff selection committee bumped FSU from its No. 4 slot in the playoff rankings to fifth, ensuring that FSU will not compete for the national championship.
Scott sent a letter to Boo Carrigan, the head of the selection committee, where the Florida Senator asked for "total transparency from the committee regarding how this decision was reached and what factors may have been at play in reaching this outcome."
Scott asked the College Football Playoff committee to release votes and rankings, as well as any recordings of deliberations and emails between members of the 13-member selection committee.
He also asked for any emails, texts or other communication between members of the selection committee and the Southeastern Conference — home to one of the two one-loss teams selected over FSU — and between the committee and people outside the process.
"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," Scott wrote.
Scott was one of several Florida politicians who reacted furiously to the decision to elevate both Texas and Alabama over FSU. In interviews, Carrigan put part of the blame on the season-ending injury to Jordan Travis, FSU's star quarterback. But FSU was ranked fourth just a week earlier after the Seminoles defeated the Florida Gators with backup quarterback Tate Rodemaker.
Scott on Sunday said he was "infuriated" by the decision to drop FSU out of the playoff.
In his letter, Scott added, "Beyond the fury and heartbreak caused by the Committee's decision, there are also financial implications that must be discussed. The ACC and FSU have been denied $2 million of revenue distribution from the CFP due to the Committee's decision to remove the Seminoles from playoff contention. 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."
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