SEC Commissioner Takes Shot At FSU Football About College Football Playoff Snub

Unsurprisingly, Greg Sankey took an uninformed shot at Florida State while referencing the College Football Playoff.

Jul 15, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; SEC commissioner Greg Sankey speaking at Omni Dallas Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Patzke-USA TODAY Sports

The controversy surrounding last year's College Football Playoff was a wildfire for Florida State fans on multiple levels. It was the first time a Power 5 conference champion was excluded from the now nonexistent four-team playoff, and it saw the powers that be appearing to lobby for an SEC team to get in, despite their two candidates, Alabama and Georgia, having tarnished records.

From the bowl game opt-outs to ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit's public outcry in favor of Alabama, alongside his somewhat strange rants with FSU fans over Twitter, the end of the season for the Seminoles was bittersweet, despite having ten players taken in the 2024 NFL Draft.

SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey continues to throw wood on the fire that was the final year of the four-team playoff. He went on Jacksonville's 1010XL radio show to take a 'not-so-subtle shot,' as Saturday Down South college football writer Matt Hayes put it, while also undermining his statement 'not so subtly' by even saying it in the first place.

"Georgia was one of the best four teams and didn't get in. But you didn't see us jumping up and down and complaining and hanging national championship banners."

SEC commish Greg Sankey on @1010XL: "Georgia was one of the best four teams (in the nation) and didn't get in (the Playoff). But you didn't see us jumping up and down and complaning and hanging national championship banners."

A not so subtle shot at FSU.

— Matt Hayes (@MattHayesCFB) July 17, 2024

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There are two things wrong with Sankey's statement. First, by saying he's not "jumping up and down and complaining," Sankey is inherently doing just that by going on the radio and talking about Georgia being left out of the playoff. Second, he confuses Florida State with the 2017 "National Champion" UCF, who went undefeated and were left out—eight years ago.

Florida State didn't hold a parade. Florida State didn't hang a National Championship banner. The only thing Florida State did was hoist an ACC Championship Trophy after a perfect 13-0 season and get historically snubbed from the playoffs. The Seminoles ended up being tabbed No. 5, the first out of the playoff field, to Georgia's No. 6.

All of this comes amidst an ongoing discussion about Florida State’s legal battle with the ACC and where they will land if they exit the conference. There have been back-and-forth rumors on whether or not FSU will be in the SEC or Big Ten so the slight by Sankey to the Seminoles could help perpetuate the background noise.

While the new 12-team playoff format will ensure that every Power 4 conference champion has a guaranteed bid, there will always be an asterisk next to the 2023 FSU season and a question mark of what could have been.

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