Ron DeSantis attacked Florida State’s playoff snub. Will he do it in Alabama?
An undefeated college football team from Tallahassee, pushed out of contention in a high-stakes competition by a dominant old favorite?
It makes sense that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may have taken the plight of the Florida State Seminoles a little personally, and why, when he takes the stage at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday night for the Republican primary debate, it may be particularly hostile territory are.
On Sunday, the College Football Playoff selection committee chose the Alabama Crimson Tide – a perennially successful team with a 12-1 record – over the undefeated Seminoles to complete the bracket of four teams that will compete for the national championship.
The decision was not well received, sparking outrage (the Seminoles coach said he was “disgusted and furious”); existential doubt (what is an undefeated season even worth?); and conspiracy theories (including the idea that ESPN, which broadcasts the championship, and its parent company, Disney, tipped the scales against Mr. DeSantis because of political retaliation).
Mr. DeSantis was outraged. On Sunday, he wrote on social media: “What we learned today is that you can go undefeated and win your conference championship game, but the College Football Playoff committee will ignore these results.”
On Tuesday, he said he would ask for $1 million to be included in his proposed state budget for legal costs that could arise from what he called the College Football Playoff’s “really, really bad decision” to exclude Florida State.
It didn’t help that former President Donald J. Trump, in criticizing the decision, again took the opportunity to troll Mr. DeSantis by suggesting the fault might be his. “Florida State was treated very poorly by the ‘Commission,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday. “They become the first Power Five team to be eliminated from the College Football Playoffs. Really bad lobbying efforts… Let’s blame DeSanctimonious!!!”
What the selection committee did not explicitly say – but which all Alabama students in the debate audience will no doubt testify to – is that on balance it considered Alabama the better team: The Crimson Tide won a more challenging conference, and Florida State had its starting quarterback lost to a broken leg. (The selection committee’s rules take into account that “unavailability of key players” may play a role in its decisions.)
Simply put, the Alabama debate will not be an ideal place for Mr. DeSantis to air his grievances.
Fortunately for him, none of the other candidates have any particular claim to Tuscaloosa, or to teams that made the playoffs. Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, attended the University of Delaware but is a longtime fan of Notre Dame.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a Harvard graduate, is from Ohio. (Mr. DeSantis graduated from Yale, whose football team defeated Harvard this year in the annual Harvard-Yale game, but found no bowl invitations in the mail.)
And Nikki Haley — the former governor of South Carolina and Mr. DeSantis’ main rival in the Republican race to replace Mr. Trump — graduated from Alabama’s deadly rival, Auburn.
Acclaimed Alabama head coach Nick Saban – a longtime friend of Senator Joe Manchin III from West Virginia does have a connection to Mr. DeSantis’ home state: He spent two unremarkable years as head coach of the Miami Dolphins before leaving for Tuscaloosa in 2007.