Seminoles Fill Schedule Vacancy

By Carlos Pineda
SouthernPigskin.com

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With the last puzzle piece in place for FSU, the ACC schedule is expected to be released soon.

Florida State can finally put its 2012 non-conference scheduling nightmare to rest.

On Wednesday athletic director Randy Spetman announced that the Seminoles will face FCS opponent Savannah State on Sept. 8 at Doak Campbell Stadium to replace the loss of West Virginia.

FSU officials were left scrambling at the last minute after the Mountaineers terminated the scheduled game three weeks ago prior to moving to the Big 12 Conference. The hopes of playing a BCS opponent at home became complicated.

"West Virginia's announcement at the 11th hour really put us in a very difficult position," Spetman said. "We contacted every BCS school that had an opening in hopes of replacing WVU with a BCS opponent, but none of those few schools could make it work either because of our dates or theirs."

Although the Seminoles could have gone on the road or to a neutral-site location to face a FBS opponent, they felt it was best to keep the game at home and not take business away from the region.

Florida State's previously announced non-conference schedule includes opening against another FCS team in Murray State on Sept. 1, followed by a game at South Florida (Sept. 29) and its annual meeting with arch-rival Florida (Nov. 24) at home.

In 2011, the 'Noles faced Louisiana-Monroe and Charleston Southern in the first two games of the season before hosting top ranked Oklahoma in the third week of the season.

With the last puzzle piece in place for FSU, the ACC schedule is expected to be released soon.

For its participation, Savannah State will be paid $475,000 by Florida State. The Tigers, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference will open the season at Oklahoma State.

West Virginia is forced to pay the Seminoles $500,000 per the agreed upon contract for backing out of this year's game. In addition, school officials are pondering suing the Mountaineers for damages from the loss of the matchup.

Last year, the Sooners' game drew an announced attendance of 84,392 at Doak Campbell Stadium. A Florida State-West Virginia game would have produced a capacity crowd and plenty of business to Tallahassee. Instead, the 'Noles will charge $40 for a game against the Tigers and a tough ticket draw as opposed to the $70 price tag the athletic office had for WVU.

Even with the likelihood that next year's game in Morgantown will be scrapped as well, Spetman is hopeful the second leg of the home-and-home will occur.

"We're planning on going up there," he said. "We look forward to going up there and playing that game. We hope we have that opportunity."

"It's a marquee game and it helps sell our program. It gives us the ratings we need to have."

With Savannah State in tow, at least Florida State has that dilemma resolved.