If Ron DeSantis wants someone to be sued over Florida State being snubbed from the College Football Playoff, he’ll have to endure the wrath of Stephen A. Smith first.
In the wake of FSU losing out on the opportunity to compete for a national championship, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is desperately seeking somewhere to direct his frustrations. The angry sports fan requested $1 million from lawmakers so FSU could sue the College Football Playoff selection committee over their decision to choose four teams ahead of them.
“Don’t you have bigger priorities?” Stephen A. Smith asked on his podcast. “I mean, you’re trailing Donald Trump by about 59 points in the polls. The man ain’t even show up to debate you because he considers you that insignificant. Don’t you have bigger problems?”
“This is not your lane,” Smith insisted. “This isn’t the first time a college football program institution has gotten screwed over. Ask TCU, ask Ohio State, ask Baylor, ask Central Florida from years ago.”
It might not be the first time a college football program has been screwed over. But it is the first time that a Power 5 team went undefeated, won their conference title and still did not make the playoff.
“The criteria that the college football committee clearly states it brings up head-to-head competition,” Smith noted. “It brings up strength of schedule, it brings up all of that. You know what else it brings up? Availability of players and coaches.”
Smith has defended the decision to keep FSU out of the playoff, citing quarterback Jordan Travis suffering a season-ending leg injury last month and the team’s inability to prove they were still capable of being a championship-level offense in his absence. And with FSU being down to their third-string quarterback, the committee probably feared enduring another clunker of a national championship game like the one TCU suffered through last season at the hand of Georgia.
“You could use a little help when it comes to knowing how to appeal to a nationally televised audience,” Smith told DeSantis. “Perhaps if you did that, you’d be higher in the polls. And the fact that you struggle with that sort of dilutes your argument on behalf of Florida State because what you’re not paying attention to is the problems that TCU’s annihilation in the national championship game to Georgia caused. The committee didn’t want to see a part two of that. The networks didn’t want to see a part two of that.”
Despite accusing him of lacking TV appeal, Smith did compliment DeSantis for his performance against California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a recent debate moderated by Fox News personality Sean Hannity. Considering Hannity’s friendship with Smith, maybe they’ll recruit DeSantis for another debate on Fox News.
Except this time, it will be DeSantis vs Smith in a battle of college football wits that nobody asked for. Something to look forward to, perhaps.
