CFO Patronis to the College Football Playoff Committee: Release Your Voting Records

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to Boo Corrigan, Chairman of the College Football Playoff committee requesting voting records of all 13 CFP Committee members. The letter comes after the historic and unprecedented decision to leave the undefeated, ACC Champion Florida State University football team out of the four team College Football Playoff.

Dear Chairman Corrigan:

On December 3, 2023, the College Football Playoff (CFP) Selection Committee made a historic and unprecedented decision to leave the undefeated Power 5 ACC Football Champion Florida State Seminoles out of the College Football Playoff. This decision will no doubt have lasting impacts on college football and the sports world for generations to come. This decision also forever altered a program's ability to recruit, the economic output of the university and surrounding community, and most importantly, the future of these players and coaches.

This FSU Football team followed every rule they needed to; they won every game, they overcame adversity and injury, and now are looking at a situation where they can’t compete on the field for a championship. It is unjust, and we have not been given a fair explanation. These decisions not only affect the players' and coaches' opportunities to compete at the highest levels, but you have also compromised millions of dollars in economic output to Florida State University and NIL value to football players themselves.

I firmly believe that transparency is the best disinfectant and decisions this big cannot be made behind closed doors. I’m offering you and every CFP Committee member an opportunity to come forward with full details on how each vote was cast for the entire 2023 college football season and document the reasoning behind each vote. This is the only way to shine light on the process behind this historic decision and work to ensure any trust in this committee in the future.

If your organization and its participants truly believe they made the right decision, then you can still appreciate that people are hurt and outraged over this decision. So much so that Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed $1 million in litigation funding to fight on behalf of FSU and its fans – and as Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, I would have no problem cutting those checks.

The future of college football is at stake, and the eyes of the sports world and the college football community are watching. I look forward to your prompt reply to this request.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Patronis

Chief Financial Officer                                                                                                                                                                          

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About CFO Jimmy Patronis
Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal Jimmy Patronis is a statewide elected official and a member of Florida’s Cabinet who oversees the Department of Financial Services. CFO Patronis works each day to fight insurance fraud, support Florida’s firefighters, and ensure the state’s finances are stable to support economic growth in the state. Follow the activities of the Department on Facebook (FLDFS) and Twitter (@FLDFS).