Attorney General Ashley Moody today is fighting for the 2023 undefeated Florida State University football team—demanding answers from the College Football Playoff Selection Committee (the “Committee”) regarding their secretive selection process. Attorney General Moody’s Antitrust Division is sending a Civil Investigative Demand to the Committee for more information about the nature of possible contracts, conspiracies in restraint of trade or monopolization of trade and commerce relating to anticompetitive effects of the College Football Playoff.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “I’m a lifelong Gator, but I’m also the Florida Attorney General, and I know injustice when I see it. 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.
“My Office is launching an investigation to examine if the Committee was involved in any anticompetitive conduct. 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. In Florida, merit matters. If it’s attention they were looking for, the Committee certainly has our attention now.”
The 2023 Florida State Seminoles are undefeated with a 13-0 record, holding all teams to 30 points or less. The Power Five Conference Champions were previously ranked fourth prior to winning the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship game—the Committee’s chosen ranking after winning a rival game. Since the beginning of the Bowl Championship Series in 1998, the Seminoles are the first undefeated power-five team in 25 seasons to be denied the opportunity to play in the national championship game or playoff over teams with a loss. It is estimated that FSU’s omission into the CFP will cost the school and the ACC millions of dollars.
The Attorney General’s Civil Investigative Demand seeks multiple communications, including, but not limited to:
- All communications relating to deliberations to or from the SEC, ACC, NCAA, ESPN, Group of Five conferences, Power Five conferences or any other person relating to the deliberations;
- All documents relating to public statements relating to the deliberations, including media talking points and interview notes;
- Documents relating to restrictions of the Conferences against having alternate playoff schedules;
- Documents showing compensation of members in 2023;
- Documents sufficient to show all recusals of Committee members from deliberations; and
- The Committee’s standards relating to ethics and conflicts of interest.
Original source can be found here.