Florida State scrambles to fill 2012 schedule

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The game of musical chairs can be fun when you're in preschool. But when it comes to the chair being pulled out seven months before the college football season opens, the fun stops. Florida State officials have been scrambling for nearly three weeks since West Virginia backed out on a Sept. 8 showdown in Tallahassee. The game likely would have been a top-15 matchup and a nationally televised game that packed 83,000 fans into Doak Campbell Stadium. FSU athletic director Randy Spetman and senior associate athletic director Monk Bonasorte worked the phones non-stop in hopes of finding a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent, but the logistics didn't work. Florida State, in need of another home game, finally settled with Savannah State to fill the Sept. 8 opening. The Tigers went 1-10 last season, dropping seven games by 20 or more points. "West Virginia's announcement at the 11th hour really put us in a very difficult position," Spetman said Wednesday. "We couldn't come up with a good opponent where the timing would work for both of us.... Some (schools) were in worse shape than we were -- they had only five home games." With West Virginia's moving to the Big 12 for the 2012 season, the Mountaineers decided that the game at FSU would not work (they have road games against Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech as well as home games with Oklahoma, TCU and Marshall). So West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck -- the father of likely No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, Andrew Luck's -- will send FSU a check for 500,000, which will cover the 475,000 that FSU has to pay Savannah State. But what it won't cover is millions of dollars in lost single-game and season ticket sales. And Spetman said he's optimistic after talking with FSU's lawyers that a lawsuit could be filed to recoup lost revenue. FSU was hoping to fill 83,000 fans in Doak Campbell Stadium against West Virginia, charging 70 per ticket. With Savannah State, there could be 20,000 empty seats even with FSU asking 40 per ticket. And then there's the affect that this has on FSU's 2012 season ticket sales. While the Seminoles host Florida and defending ACC champion Clemson, a matchup with West Virginia is far more lucrative than one that features a Mid-Eastern Conference cellar dweller. The Seminoles played Charleston Southern in Week 2 of 2011 and then hosted No. 1 Oklahoma the following week. Spetman said the difference in the gate receipts between those games was 2 million to 2.5 million. "We have to show that we lost so many season tickets and that will be based on this game (Savannah State), and that will be difficult to prove," Spetman said. "But we're going to gather that data.... "The way we determine that is we compare what our game receipts were for the Oklahoma game last year. I'm not sure West Virginia would have been quite that size -- but pretty close." Spetman and Bonasorte called 50-60 schools in an effort to find the best possible opponent. There were options, but most of them were not ideal. FSU could have played on the road or taken on a neutral-site game in Orlando or Jacksonville. The preference for many reasons was to keep the game in Tallahassee. Local hotels and restaurants enjoy capacity crowds on home weekends, especially ones that feature FSU against a marquee opponent. Lee Daniel, Executive Director of Visit Tallahassee, said that the economic impact is dramatic and taking away even one home game is significant for local business. "According to Bonn Marketing Research, the direct economic impact of an FSU home game can range anywhere from 1 million to 10 million depending on the opponent and time of the game," Daniel said. School administrators wanted to keep the hotel rooms and restaurants full on the weekend of Sept. 8. FSU talked with anyone who had a Sept. 8 opening, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Cincinnati, Syracuse and Pittsburgh. "We might have been able to play on the road at some BCS schools this season," Spetman said. "But that would cost our fans and the university one of seven chances to play a home game and also would have a negative impact on our local economy." One scenario could have ended with FSU being forced to open with Murray State and then have a bye week on Sept. 8. The thought of playing 11 straight weeks -- plus a potential ACC championship game in early December -- didn't sit well with FSU coaches and administrators. "Can you imagine that?" Spetman asked with a chuckle. "I can't. It may happen at some point in the future, but if you can avoid that you are really going to work hard to do that. That very well could have happened to us this year." Spetman said that in the end FSU had a choice of three Football Championship Subdivision schools. About a week ago, FSU and Savannah State began talking and in the past few days agreed to the deal. What the Tigers lack for in football prowess, they make up for at halftime. "Savannah State's got a great band," Spetman said. "We'll make that band day and help generate some interest in the game with that also." The 2012 schedule for FSU certainly doesn't open with a bang: the Seminoles will host Murray State and then Savannah State. FSU's other non-conference games will be at South Florida (Sept. 29) and home for Florida (Nov. 24). And with nine ACC games in the future, FSU fans may have to get used to seeing a non-conference schedule that includes Florida and a few "guarantee games." Once Pittsburgh and Syracuse join the ACC, likely in 2013, FSU will only have two slots to fill. "So scheduling BCS teams will be more challenging from here on out for everybody," FSU coach Jimbo Fisher said. The bizarre aspect of this is that FSU is still set to play at West Virginia in 2013. West Virginia has only bought out the 2012 game and the FSU-West Virginia matchup in 2013 remains on the calendar -- for now. Spetman said on Wednesday that FSU wants to play the game. And Fisher, a West Virginia native, likely would enjoy the homecoming. But the schools could face off in 2013 with a lawsuit pending or after a settlement. It's not an ideal scenario. "We look forward to going up there and playing that game," Spetman said. "Hope we have that opportunity. It's a marquee game. And it helps sell our program. It gives us the ratings that we need to have to get into the national championship game." There's a good chance, however, that the teams won't play in 2013. It's a situation that will work itself out in coming months. Spetman insists that there is no bad blood between him and the West Virginia administration for the nearly three weeks of headaches in Tallahassee. "I'm not happy with West Virginia by any means, but this is the result of conference realignment," Spetman said. "The AD there has gotten pressure from other sources that he had to do that for the good of his university. Luck doesn't want to do this to us. No AD wants to do it to you." For now, FSU can stop playing musical chairs. But the new challenge is selling tickets for a Sept. 8 game that lacks an attractive opponent. "We were fortunate enough to get Savannah State in our time frame," Spetman said. "We're going to bring them down here and hope for the best."