College Football Playoff officials have responded to Rick Scott, a U.S. senator from Florida, who challenged the Playoff committee for transparency after Florida State was left out of the CFP top 4.

Scott nearly 2 weeks ago wrote a letter to committee chair Boo Corrigan, and demanded that he explain the process that led to the Seminoles not making it. Executive director Bill Hancock responded to Scott, and recognized that disappointment was bound to happen based on the collection of teams and resumes.

It referred to the unavailability of key players, and the Seminoles’ strength of schedule.

The injury to QB Jordan Travis and subsequent play of Tate Rodemaker and Brock Glenn was widely viewed as one of the reasons FSU was left out.

“While this is the first year such a team was from a so-called P5 conference, strength of schedule remains a crucial factor,” the officials noted in the letter. “Everyone on the Committee understands the disappointment felt by Florida State fans. We recognize that no matter what decision was made, fans somewhere would be disappointed. This year, there were more than four highly impressive teams competing for four Playoff spots – yet only four could qualify. The Committee members are confident they made the right decisions in ranking the best four teams in the country based on the protocol and we all look forward to great playoff games.”