Never let it be said that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t have his priorities straight.
That’s because his latest decision suggests he doesn’t.
DeSantis is apparently so miffed that Florida State’s undefeated football team was not invited into the college playoff that he lashed out at the NCAA’s College Football Playoff committee on Sunday:
“What we learned today is that you can go undefeated and win your conference championship game, but the College Football Playoff committee will ignore these results.”
On Tuesday, DeSantis announced he wanted to take a drastic ― and some would say petty ― move to rectify the snub by setting aside $1 million in the state budget to help pay for “any litigation expenses that may come as a result of this really, really poor decision by the College Football Playoff,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Currently, the university and the State University System Board of Governors are exploring possible ways to deal with the snub, but DeSantis said nothing will probably happen before the Jan. 1 semifinals at the Rose Bowl (Michigan vs. Alabama) and Sugar Bowl (Texas vs. Washington), the Times reported.
The governor also admitted he’s not sure what effect litigation might have.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to even do that, but we are going to put aside $1 million and let the chips fall where they may on that,” DeSantis said.
Although Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer, seemed open to setting aside the money in the event Florida State goes after the NCAA, many in the social media bleachers wondered if there were more appropriate uses for $1 million.
DeSantis may want to earmark the money, but it would have pass in the state legislature before it could be sent to the university.
Attorney and Meidas Touch editor Ron Filipkowski pointed out the folly of the governor’s plan.
“What makes this even more ridiculous is that this money would not even be allocated until months after the college playoff is already over with, so clearly there is zero substance to this,” he wrote.