By Scott Salomon
This is from the ridiculous and sublime department.
Colton Moore, a state senator from Georgia, became yet another elected public official on Thursday to write and complain to the College Football Playoff Committee about and Georgia and Florida State being left out of the four-team tournament.
He went one step further and said that the Capital One Orange Bowl, which is scheduled to be played on December 30th, should be included in the College Football Playoff and that the teams should have the right to play for the national championship.
This follows the actions of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody who issued a subpoena-like document to the Committee seeking information as to why the undefeated, conference champion Seminoles were passed over for the once-defeated Alabama Crimson Tide for the last spot in the tournament.
Moody believes that FSU was omitted due to ESPN’s potential bias and tie-in with the Southeastern Conference and is demanding, among other things, all written communication between the Committee and ESPN and the SEC.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said she wants answers as to why the undefeated Florida State Seminoles were left out of the four-team playoff. Here's the latest. https://t.co/7BdP7xJfUP
— NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) December 13, 2023
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The Committee alleges that they left Florida State out of the Playoff due to Jordan Travis being missing from the Seminole offense, and that this was a different FSU team in December than it was for the previous 11 weeks. It’s not like Travis opted-out of the last two and half games, he broke his leg and cannot walk.
Yeah, like Travis made a conscious decision to have his leg broken against North Alabama. He wanted to give second and third team quarterbacks the right to play against Florida and Louisville to end the season, both Seminole victories.
The Playoff committee, in hindsight, obviously botched it with Florida State, but got it right with Georgia. The Bulldogs are the sixth-best team in the country.
However, Moore obviously cares more about the one-loss Bulldogs than the undefeated, conference-champion Seminoles, but fails to comprehend that Georgia does not belong in the four-team tournament.
Georgia did not go undefeated and did not win its conference championship game. Moore does not have a leg to stand on in fighting for the two-time champion Bulldogs as Georgia does not have the season-long credentials that Florida State has.
Georgia, while it enjoyed a good season, is right where it belongs. It is playing in a New Years Six Bowl Game and is not competing for a national title. All four playoff teams have won their conference championship, despite two, Alabama and Texas, being once defeated.
“Your mandate is to send the four best teams in the country to the Playoff and instead you have created a political mess with a decision based on bias to weaker conferences and teams who want nothing to do playing the Georgia Bulldogs,” Moore wrote to Committee Chairman Boo Corrigan.
People of Georgia demand the @NCAA and @CFBPlayoff include @OrangeBowl in the College Football Playoff: @UGAAthletics vs @Seminoles
UGA is in the top 4 teams in the USA. @SEC @ACC @NCAA@ronDesantis @ScottforFlorida @BrianKempGA@espn @KirkHerbstreit @finebaum pic.twitter.com/R0kjrT9OWz
— Sen. Colton Moore (@realColtonMoore) December 14, 2023
Moore did not explain how three winners would compete for a championship game that only two teams could play in. He did rely on statistics to show why Georgia should be in the tournament and wrote that “The University of Georgia is in the top four college football teams in the United States.”
Is Georgia a better team than the Alabama team that it lost to in Atlanta for the SEC Championship? The answer is no. That issue was settled on the field. Is Georgia better than Texas, who won the Big XII Conference Title after a convincing victory over Oklahoma State? No, Texas won its conference and won when it mattered most. The Bulldogs put up a valiant effort against Alabama, but the better team won the contest and also won the right to play for a national title.
His argument falls short of the mark as all four playoff teams won their conference titles and won their last game. Despite winning 29 games in a row, which Moore stresses in his letter, Georgia did not beat Alabama in the SEC Championship and should not get the spoils normally given to conference champions.
The State Senator made a demand of the Committee and said, “People of Georgia request you allow The Orange Bowl to be activated as a College Football Game and therefore delay the national championship by one week or otherwise make accommodations.:
How would that even be possible? One team that wins its game, would have to receive a second-round bye and an automatic trip to the title game, while the two other winners play a game to determine who comes in second place and earns a spot in the national title game.
This is asinine and one of the dumbest suggestions by an elected official. Georgia is not good enough to play for the national title and Moore should be more worried about the State of Georgia’s well being as opposed to a meaningless football game to the Bulldogs who have no claim to being in the top four teams in the country.
Moore’s suggestion is embarrassing to the great State of Georgia and is insulting to the Seminoles who did everything that was asked of them. If anyone has a bone to pick, it would be the Seminoles and Head Football Coach Mike Norvell.
