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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has launched an anti-College Football Playoff investigation into the elimination of undefeated Florida State. to 12-1 Alabama.
Moody’s officially began the investigation on Tuesday, looking into “possible contracts, combinations, or conspiracies … with respect to competitive effects.”
“I’m a lifelong Gator, but I’m also the Florida Attorney General, and I know injustice when I see it,” Moody said in a statement. “No professional or college football fan can look at this situation and not question the outcome…
“As it stands, the Board’s decision appears biased, so we need answers – not just for FSU, but for all schools, teams and people.” love college football.”
Moody and his office want those answers through a civil investigation — essentially a civil case, not a criminal one. Office requests include:
• Information about communications related to “access to key players and coaches” during committee deliberations. This is important because the chairman of the committee Boo Corrigan called the injury to FSU star Jordan Travis as a big reason why Alabama jumped the Seminoles.
• Individual and committee votes, along with statements and other related documents.
• Communications to/from ACC, SEC, ESPN or NCAA regarding negotiations.
• Press releases or interview reports.
• Records or communications about “restrictions” in conferences “against the presence of other series of events.”
• Information about any opposition or women involved in major sports or games.
• Any internal communications about “the Power Five Conferences and the combination” of major league games and the process.
Moody gave the College Football Playoff until December 26th to begin answering on January 11th.
The game is controlled by CFP Administration, LLC and based in Irving, Texas, outside of Dallas.
“We will carefully consider this request for information, but it certainly seems like a very strong response in the context of college football which may upset some fans,” he said. said playoff general manager Bill Hancock in a statement.
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FSU entered the conference championships this weekend ranked fourth by the selection committee. The Seminoles defeated No. 14 Louisville to win the ACC title and improve to 13-0 before falling to the finals by one loss to Alabama, which was eliminated. beat No. 1 Georgia in the SEC championship game.
The Crimson Tide earned the fourth and final spot, along with undefeated Big Ten champion Michigan, Pac-12 champion Washington and 12-1 Big 12 champion Texas. This is the first time an undefeated champion from a major conference has been excluded from the tournament or its predecessor, the Bowl Championship Series, in favor of a one-loss team.
The decision has drawn scrutiny from some of the state’s top politicians.
US Sen. Rick Scott has called for more clarification from the CFP and its committee while requesting documents similar to those sought by Moody. Governor Ron DeSantis set aside $1 million in his budget for the trial. US Rep. Gus Bilirakis – whose district includes Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties – requested an explanation from the NCAA and the selection committee in his role as chairman of the new House committee, statistics and business.
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