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Florida Attorney General launches antitrust investigation after FSU football playoff snub
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- Florida Attorney General launches antitrust investigation after FSU football playoff snub
Update (8:47 p.m.): College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock issued a statement on the investigation .
Florida State 's snub from the College Football Playoff has continued to lead to condemnation from politicians around the state.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is going further by launching an antitrust investigation into the decision to leave FSU out of the four-team playoff field, despite being one of three programs from a major conference to win a conference championship and finish undefeated.
Moody sent a civil investigative demand letter to the College Football Playoff Committee on Tuesday. Her office is seeking a long list of documents and information including all communications with the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Southeastern Conference and sports media outlet ESPN.
"I'm a lifelong Gator, but I'm also the Florida attorney general, and I know injustice when I see it," Moody said in the video.
"No rational person or college football fan can look at this situation and not question the result. The NCAA, conferences and the College Football Playoff Committee are subject to antitrust laws."
College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock issued a statement.
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"We will carefully review this demand for information, but it sure seems to be an overly aggressive reaction to a college football ranking in which some fans somewhere were bound to be disappointed," the statement read.
The committee said it hadn't received anything official from the attorney general's office yet, according to ESPN.
Two undefeated programs — Michigan and Washington — reached the playoffs following undefeated seasons and winning the Big 10 and Pac-12 Championships, respectively. The Seminoles also finished 13-0 following a win over Louisville in the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 2 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
FSU was left out for two one-loss teams in Texas (Big 12 champions) and Alabama (SEC champions), with the committee pointing to the season-ending injury of Jordan Travis changing the composition of the team.
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Moody is not buying the reasoning.
There have been questions if Alabama was included due to the SEC having recently signed a $3 billion television contract with ESPN, the cable network that broadcasts the playoff games. The bias has been called out by many fans, in the media and politicians — including Gov. Ron DeSantis and GOP Sen. Rick Scott.
"As it stands, the committee's decision reeks of partiality, so we are demanding answers — not only for FSU but for all schools, teams and fans of college football," Moody said.
"In Florida, merit matters. If it's attention they were looking for, the committee certainly has our attention now."
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DeSantis has recommended setting aside $1 million in his proposed budget in case of potential litigation on behalf of FSU.
Scott tweeted out support of Moody.
"Good! For more than a week, the @CFBPlayoff Selection Committee has been hiding & evading my demands for transparency after excluding #FSU . I welcome @AGAshleyMoody 's efforts to force accountability."
Moody demanded that the selection committee turn over all documents no later than Jan. 11, but as soon as Dec. 26.
The request asks for communications exchanged between the committee and the NCAA, ESPN and conferences and documents like vote sheets and details on things like financial guarantees.
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Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports), Instagram (tlhnolesports) and YouTube channel (NoleSportsTD).
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida AG launches investigation over Florida State football CFP snub
