Exclusive: Q&A with Rick Scott on FSU, the snub and College Football Playoff Committee
Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott has been perhaps the most vocal politician about Florida State football's snub from the College Football Playoffs.
The No. 5 Seminoles were left out for a pair of 1-loss teams despite going undefeated and winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship on Dec. 2 vs. Louisville.
FSU became the first undefeated team in the last 25 years to not have a chance to compete for the National Championship in favor of a non-undefeated team, as it was denied a spot in the playoff field.
Scott has a letter to the College Football Playoff Committee with 10 questions. Bill Hancock's and the committee's response on Friday did not address his questions.
He again responded to the committee with another letter Monday demanding answers to his questions and transparency behind the process.
The Democrat talked with Scott on the phone Tuesday in an exclusive interview.
Tallahassee Democrat Q&A with Sen. Rick Scott
Q: For people saying this is just politics, what do you say to that?
A: I mean, this is supposed to be about who's the best and winning and losing and striving. I mean, that's what we think about sports. There are no guarantees, it's about who shows up that day and does the best job.
That's what's so frustrating, FSU did that for every win this year and they did everything they could and these kids just with a lot of adversity, and then they hit it big and got kicked out of the playoffs. I have a 12-year-old grandson who loves football, and he couldn't get off the phone. I'll see him on Thursday and I bet all he wants to talk about is how unfair this is and how unfair it is to these kids that will now never get to have a shot at playing in the National Championship. Because you know they might be seniors.
Q: How do you want this situation to end?
A: I want there to be transparency. I want them to have to be open and honest. I mean, this is a big deal. This is millions of dollars. This is somebody's chance to play in the NFL. This is a lot of money to a school, in this case, FSU, but it could be anybody.
And this is why I think people are getting frustrated with our country right now. we have institutions that make decisions and they say, 'Oh, these are the rules.' They don't follow their own rules... I think this is bigger than just football. This is what people are getting frustrated about in our country. It's that these things are happening with no disclosure, no logic to it. And we're supposed to just say, 'Oh, OK.'
Q: What's the next step if the committee doesn't give the transparency?
A: I'm not gonna give up. I'm gonna do everything I can to create transparency here and whatever it takes to get the transparency. I can hopefully know the right thing was happening if they would come out and say, 'This is how we all voted. We want to make sure we're gonna clear this up. We're gonna give you all our emails, we're gonna give all the texts. We're gonna give you any transcripts of conversations. We're gonna make sure everybody feels comfortable with how we made the decision.'
When they don't, you assume the worst. Their problem is that they're creating an environment where people get frustrated with them.
Q: What does FSU need to do? Have you been in contact with anyone from the college?
A: I think FSU needs to continue to do what they've done. I think they've done a good job of telling people that this is wrong and that the school has been injured. Their players have been injured, their team has been injured. The whole whole trust of the College Playoffs has been injured. I've talked to quite a few people there.
Q: Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville called this 'a waste of time.' What are your thoughts on his comments?
A: I want to make sure that the system is something that we can trust. I have a 12-year-old grandson who now says, 'Grandpa, what they're telling you is you shouldn't go to FSU because they're not going to get to the playoffs because they've already picked their teams.' When a 12-year-old kid is saying that it's telling you that, they believe now the system's unfair.
Q: Georgia State Senator Colton Moore said the committee should expand the playoffs to include the Orange Bowl. What do you think about that?
A: It'd be nice if they would go back and review what they did today. It'd be so unlikely that they're going to do that. Think about this, even when they go to 12 teams, people say it will solve it, well actually it won't. Because if you're the 13th team, and you clearly see what was biased towards a conference or a certain team or a certain coach. Instead of who had the best record you're gonna say to yourself, this is wrong.
The whole goal of this was .... the best teams would be in a playoff so we could pick a national championship. That's not what they did here. This team FSU, had the best record in an important conference, and they were denied the opportunity to win the national championship.
HOW TO WATCH ORANGE BOWL
Who: No. 5 FSU (12-0) vs. No. 6 Georgia (12-1)
When/where: 4 p.m., Saturday, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
TV/Radio: ESPN/94.9 FM
Live game updates: www.Tallahassee.com; @Ehsan_Kassim, @jackgwilliams and @JimHenryTALLY on X, formerly Twitter
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: GOP Sen. Rick Scott talks about College Football Playoff, FSU football
