Ron DeSantis has promised that the state budget will provide $1 million for “any litigation expenses” against the College Football Playoff Selection Committee for denying Florida State University the chance to play for the college championship.
In announcing his 2024-2025 budget proposal, the Florida governor said at a Tuesday news conference in Marco Island that the undefeated Seminoles “earned a spot” in the playoffs but were snubbed due to a “very, very controversial ruling.”
The Tampa Bay Times reported that FSU is the first undefeated Power Five conference champion, which includes the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and SEC, to be ranked below a one-loss team in the history of the playoffs. Alabama, the SEC winner, had a record of 12-1 and took the fourth spot on Sunday to compete against 13-0 Michigan, 13-0 Washington, and 12-1 Texas.
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On Monday, Donald Trump weighed in on Truth Social, blaming “DeSanctimonious” for the situation, while Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) wrote a letter to the Selection Committee chairman, Boo Corrigan, insisting on “total transparency from the committee regarding how this decision was reached and what factors may have been at play in reaching this outcome.”
DeSantis later admitted in his press conference that he did not know whether litigation would be successful, but said he would provide resources to FSU and “let the chips fall where they may.”
According to WKMG, DeSantis noted that his $114.4 billion plan is “actually less than our current fiscal year 2023-2024 budget.”
“We’re going to be making key investments and things that really matter like education, and infrastructure and transportation with our budget we will have a surplus reserve amount that is $16.3 billion,” he said.
