118 SRES 503 IS: Congratulating the Florida State University Seminoles for winning the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship. U.S. Senate 2023-12-14 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Whereas, on December 2, 2023, the Florida State University Seminoles football team won the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Football Championship;Whereas this marks a conference-leading 16th ACC Football Championship that the Seminoles have won since they joined the ACC in 1992;Whereas the Seminoles defeated the nationally ranked University of Louisville football team in the 19th ACC Football Championship game;Whereas the Seminoles finished the regular season undefeated for the sixth time in program history;Whereas the Seminoles were 1 of only 3 undefeated Power Five conference teams in America;Whereas this marks the 109th ACC title for Florida State University Seminoles Athletics;Whereas the Seminoles led all schools with 8 Seminoles players selected to the ACC All-Conference First Team;Whereas the Seminoles led all schools with 17 ACC All-Conference selections on the first, second, and third teams;Whereas Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis—(1)earned the 2023 ACC Football Player of the Year award; and(2)earned the 2023 ACC Offensive Player of the Year award;Whereas Seminoles Head Coach Michael Norvell—(1)won his first ACC Football Championship in only his fourth season as head coach; and(2)is only the fourth coach in program history to finish the regular season undefeated;Whereas the Seminoles were the only undefeated Power Five Conference Champion to ever be left out of the playoffs;Whereas the Seminoles were never ranked lower than fifth in any College Football Playoff rankings;Whereas the Seminoles were jumped in the final College Football Playoff rankings by 2 teams with 1 loss despite the Seminoles having an undefeated record;Whereas for the first time in the 10-year history of the College Football Playoffs system, 2 teams below the top 6 in the penultimate rankings each made an unprecedented jump of 4 spots to make the playoffs in the final rankings;Whereas the 13-member College Football Playoff Selection Committee has continually operated under an opaque structure and decision-making process during its 10-year history, culminating in the unprecedented decision to leave out the undefeated Seminoles from the playoffs;Whereas the College Football Playoff Selection Committee failed to adhere to its own College Football Playoff Selection Committee Protocols and Guiding Principles during the selection process;Whereas the College Football Playoff Selection Committee did not follow its own precedent, such as when in 2014 the Committee admitted a 1-loss team into the playoffs, despite starting and winning its conference championship game with a third-string quarterback;Whereas, despite facing substantial adversity throughout the entire season and the loss of numerous key players to injuries, the Seminoles finished the season undefeated and as the ACC Football Champions; andWhereas the entire Seminoles roster, the coaches, and the support staff should be recognized for their outstanding season and contributions to an outstanding season: Now, therefore, be it

That the Senate—(1)congratulates the Florida State University football team, and the students, alumni, faculty, staff, and trustees of Florida State University, for winning the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Football Championship and completing an undefeated season; and(2)respectfully directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit an enrolled copy of this resolution to—(A)the President of Florida State University, Richard McCullough;(B)the Athletic Director of Florida State University, Michael Alford; and(C)the Head Coach of the Florida State University football team, Michael Norvell.