Last week, West Virginia notified FSU that they were canceling their 2012 game which was scheduled for Sept. 8 in Tallahassee.

The Mountaineers are preparing to compete in the Big 12 next season and needed to cancel one of their four scheduled non-conference games. Canceling the trip made the most financial sense to West Virginia, although they do have to pay a $500,00 buyout. If FSU can’t find a suitable replacement, they Seminoles might file a lawsuit against the Mountaineers to recoup additional lost revenue.

Florida State has reportedly reached out to several BCS schools to fill the Sept. 8 void on their schedule. Those teams include Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Syracuse and Pittsburgh.

Oklahoma currently needs two non-conference games in 2012, but would the Sooners want to play another home-and-home series with FSU? The two schools just completed their 2010-11 set in which Oklahoma won both games.

Texas A&M is also in need of two games with their move to the SEC in 2012. The Aggies currently have open dates on Sept. 22, Oct. 13 and Nov. 17. They are scheduled to host Florida on Sept. 8 and that date is unlikely to change.

The three Big East schools, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, will each need an additional non-conference game with the departure of West Virginia. They could even schedule two since the NCAA allows 12 games.

Whoever Florida State can get to fill that void, look for it to happen soon since the 2012 ACC schedule is likely to be released later this month.

The Mountaineers were scheduled to visit Doak Campbell Stadium on Sept. 8, 2012. The two schools are also slated to play Sept. 14, 2013 at West Virginia. No announcement was made about the future of that game, but WVU will also need to cancel one of their non-conference games that season since they have four on the books.

West Virginia is canceling the FSU game in preparation for playing a Big 12 schedule in 2012. With ten teams in the Big 12, each school will play a nine-game conference schedule.

Florida State will need to act quickly to get a new opponent for their fourth non-conference game. The ACC schedule should be released this month and the Seminoles need their schedule completely set for season ticket holders and marketing.

FSU could look for an FCS school, but they are already slated to open the season against Murray State on Sept. 1. Brett McMurphy of CBSSports.com suggests that the Noles contact schools in the Big East since they will need an extra game with the departure of West Virginia.

Statement from FSU AD Randy Spetman:

“We were informed in writing late Friday afternoon of West Virginia University’s intention to cancel its 2012 football game with Florida State University scheduled for September 8 in Tallahassee. We are disappointed for our coaches, players and fans that this game will not take place as originally scheduled. We now face the challenge of completing our 2012 schedule just seven months before the start of the season. We will work quickly and diligently to fill the hole on our schedule and will communicate with our season ticket holders and fans as the process moves forward.”

Related Links:

• 2012 Florida State Football Schedule
• 2012 West Virginia Football Schedule
• Report: West Virginia May Cancel 2012 Game at Florida State

ACC Commissioner John Swofford also announced today that Syracuse will join the Atlantic Division and Pittsburgh will join the Coastal Division. Current ACC division crossover games will remain intact, while Pittsburgh and Syracuse will become crossover partners.

When Pitt and Syracuse join the ACC, the league will play a nine-game conference schedule. The format will consist of each team playing all six in its division each year, plus its primary crossover partner each year and two rotating opponents from the opposite division. This six-year cycle allows each team to play each divisional opponent and its primary crossover partner six times (three home and three away) while also playing each rotating crossover opponent two times (one home and one away).

“We have been engaged in discussions on the various options for integrating Pitt and Syracuse since early fall,” said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. “It’s a tremendous tribute to the leadership at our schools that we will be able to seamlessly add Pitt and Syracuse at the appropriate time when they become full playing members.”

With the addition of Pittsburgh and Syracuse, here is how the ACC Atlantic and Coastal Divisions will look:

ACC Atlantic

• Boston College
• Clemson
• Florida State
• Maryland
• NC State
• Syracuse
• Wake Forest

ACC Coastal

• Duke
• Georgia Tech
• Miami
• North Carolina
• Pittsburgh
• Virginia
• Virginia Tech

Boston College will now travel to face Army at Michie Stadium in West Point, NY on Oct. 6, 2012. The Eagles will host the Black Knights at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill on Oct. 5, 2013.

“With the latest round of conference realignment and the additions to the Atlantic Coast Conference, we felt it was in the best interests of both programs to make this schedule change,” Army Director of Athletics Boo Corrigan said. “We couldn’t be more pleased to add Boston College to our already exciting home schedule next year.”

The change gives the Black Knights seven home games in 2012: Northern Illinois (Sept. 15), Stony Brook (Sept. 29), Kent State (Oct. 13), Ball State (Oct. 27), Air Force (Nov. 3) and Temple (Nov. 17).

With the change to playing at Boston College in 2013, Army will have only five games at Michie Stadium.

Boston College has not announced their 2012 football schedule yet, but the Eagles are slated to play at Northwestern (Sept. 15), at Army (Oct. 6), home vs. Notre Dame (Nov. 10) and home vs. Maine.

In 2013, the Eagles travel to USC (Sept. 14) and host Army (Oct. 5), Stony Brook and Syracuse.

Football Schedules:

• Army Future Football Schedules
• Boston College Future Football Schedules

Both schools announced their intention to leave the Big East and join the ACC in 2014. If the Big East were to unexpectedly release Pittsburgh and Syracuse soon, it would probably be too late to work them into the ACC’s schedule in 2012.

“You never say never, but it’s unlikely there would be major changes once it’s set,” Mike Finn told NewsObserver.com. Finn is the ACC associate commissioner in charge of football communications.

West Virginia is currently in a lawsuit with the Big East over their exit to the Big 12. If the Mountaineers were to win the case or the conference let them go, there would be a precedent that Pittsburgh and Syracuse could use to leave early for the ACC.

In other ACC scheduling news, the AJC reported today that the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets are involved in discussions to play their season-opener on Labor Day, perhaps against the Virginia Tech Hokies.

“We’re moderately interested in it, not crazy about it, but it’s got some interest to us,” associate athletic director Wayne Hogan told the AJC Tuesday. “It’s just a question of what makes sense.”

The AJC said the chances of this happening “do not appear good” primarily because Tech doesn’t want to play a Coastal Division game on opening weekend. In addition, the Jackets like to open the season against an FCS team.

The only set games for Georgia Tech on their 2012 football schedule are Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 8 and at Georgia on Nov. 24. The Yellow Jackets are also slated to host BYU and Southeastern Louisiana in non-conference contests.

West Virginia is currently slated to face the Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Sept. 8, 2012. FSU is scheduled to return the trip to Morgantown on Sept. 14, 2013.

Due to West Virginia’s move to the Big 12, the Mountaineers need to drop a non-conference game. The Big 12 plays a 9-game conference schedule which leaves their members three non-conference games per year.

If the FSU game is cancelled, the Mountaineers three non-conference games would be Marshall (Sept. 1), James Madison (Sept. 15; at FedEx Field) and Maryland (date TBA).

The Mountaineers are currently suing the Big East to leave the conference in 2012 rather than abide by the 27-month waiting period.

If the WU-FSU game or series is cancelled, WVU would owe Florida State $350,000 to $500,000 in buyout fees.

Football Schedules:

• 2012 Florida State Football Schedule
• 2012 West Virginia Football Schedule

Virginia Tech will host Austin Peay at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg on a date to be announced. The game will be the first ever between the two schools.

The addition of Austin Peay completes the 2012 non-conference schedule for Virginia Tech. The Hokies are also slated to play at Pittsburgh (Sept. 15), host Bowling Green (Sept. 22) and face Cincinnati at FedEx Field in Landover, MD on Sept. 29.

Tech’s 2012 ACC slate, which will be officially announced in late January or early February, includes home games against Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Virginia and road games against Boston College, Clemson, Miami (FL) and North Carolina.

Football Schedules:

• 2012 Virginia Tech Hokies Football Schedule
• Virginia Tech Future Football Schedules

The game will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana on Tuesday, January 3, 2012 (8:30 p.m. ET – ESPN).

This will be the first ever meeting between Michigan of the Big Ten and Virginia Tech of the ACC.

Michigan finished the 2011 season 10-2 and ranked 13th in the BCS. Virginia Tech finished 11-2 and 11th in the BCS.

2012 Allstate Sugar Bowl Tickets:

• 2012 Sugar Bowl Tickets – RazorGator.com
• 2012 Sugar Bowl Tickets – TicketsNow.com
• 2012 Sugar Bowl Tickets – TicketNetwork.com

Michigan Wolverines:

• Michigan 2012 Sugar Bowl Fan Gear
• Michigan Future Football Schedules

Virginia Tech Hokies:

• Virginia Tech 2012 Sugar Bowl Fan Gear
• Virginia Tech Future Football Schedules

The game will be played at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida on Wednesday, January 4, 2012 (8:00 p.m. ET – ESPN).

This will be only the second meeting between Clemson of the ACC and West Virginia of the Big East. The Tigers beat the Mountaineers 27-7 in the 1989 Gator Bowl.

Clemson won the 2011 ACC Championship Game and finished the season with a 10-3 record and ranked 15th in the BCS. West Virginia won a share of the Big East title, finishing 9-3 and ranked 23rd in the BCS.

2012 Discover Orange Bowl Tickets:

• 2012 Orange Bowl Tickets – RazorGator.com
• 2012 Orange Bowl Tickets – TicketsNow.com
• 2012 Orange Bowl Tickets – TicketNetwork.com

Clemson Tigers:

• Clemson ACC Champions & Orange Bowl Fan Gear
• Clemson Future Football Schedules

West Virginia Mountaineers:

• West Virginia Big East Champions & Orange Bowl Fan Gear
• West Virginia Future Football Schedules

3-Day shipping for orders over $50 is free (use code HShip50). 3-day shipping is a flat rate of $4.99 for orders $50 and under, so order as many items as you like (applies to 48 Continental U.S. States only). Click on the picture below to be taken to the main page of the Clemson fan shop.

Clemson Tigers 2011 ACC Champions

North Carolina will open the 2012 season at home on Sept. 1 against the Elon Phoenix. The game will be the first ever between the two schools.

The Tar Heels will then travel to face the Louisville Cardinals on Sept. 15 in the final game of their 2011-12 home-and-home series. It will be the 7th meeting in the series, which is now tied at three games each.

UNC will close out their non-conference schedule with two straight games at Kenan Memorial Stadium: East Carolina on Sept. 22 and Idaho on Sept. 29. North Carolina is 10-2-1 against East Carolina and has never played Idaho.

After their 37-21 win over Duke on Saturday, the Tar Heels finished the 2011 regular season 7-5 overall and 3-5 in the ACC.

2012 North Carolina Football Schedule

• 09/01 – Elon
• 09/15 – at Louisville
• 09/22 – East Carolina
• 09/29 – Idaho

Tickets for the 2011 game are available through our preferred vendor TicketsNow.com.

Clemson (9-2, 6-2 ACC) clinched the ACC Atlantic Division title with a 31-28 win over Wake Forest on Nov. 12. Virginia Tech (11-1, 7-1 ACC) stomped Virginia 38-0 on Saturday to win the Coastal Division.

Earlier this season, Clemson visited Blacksburg and beat Virginia Tech 23-3.

Listed below are links to all of our vendors for ACC Championship Football Tickets:

• ACC Championship Football Tickets – RazorGator.com
• ACC Championship Football Tickets – TicketsNow.com
• ACC Championship Football Tickets – TicketNetwork.com

Ohio State has added a game against the Florida A&M Rattlers at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 7, 2013. The game will be the first ever between the two schools.

The Buckeyes will begin a home-and-home series with the North Carolina Tar Heels on Sept. 5, 2015 at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State will then travel to face UNC in Chapel Hill on Sept. 23, 2017.

Ohio State is 3-1 all-time against North Carolina. The two schools last met in 1975 in Columbus. The Buckeye won that game 32-7.

Gene Smith also announced today that due to the Big Ten’s decision to play a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2017, the Buckeyes have canceled a 2018-19 home-and-home series with the Tennessee Volunteers.

East Carolina will travel to face North Carolina at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill on September 22, 2012. On September 28, 2013, the Pirates will host the Tar Heels at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville.

The two schools will square off this season on October 1 in Greenville. The series, which started in 1975, is led by the Tar Heels 10-2-1. North Carolina has won the last two games, both in Chapel Hill.

“It remains important for us to maintain ties to our regional rivals and continuing our football relationship with North Carolina certainly is in line with that,” East Carolina Director of Athletics Terry Holland said. “The anticipation and excitement make this a tough ticket in both stadiums and creates interest throughout the region.”

Football Schedules:

• East Carolina Future Football Schedules
• North Carolina Future Football Schedules

Pittsburgh and Syracuse will each have to pay a $5 million dollar exit fee for leaving the Big East. In addition, Big East by-laws state that schools who leave the conference must provide 27 months’ notice.

However, lawyers for both schools are expected to negotiate that time frame down. Otherwise they couldn’t begin ACC play until the 2014 football season.

Various reports have also indicated that Texas and Texas Tech could move to the ACC. There are also rumors that current Big East schools Connecticut and Rutgers could apply to the conference.

For now, the ACC is at 14 schools and could very likely end up at 16. Both scenarios mean that the ACC will probably realign and change their division names. Currently the divisions are Atlantic and Coastal, but they could become a more geographical North and South.

It also means that the ACC’s future football schedules will change. When the conference expanded to 12 with the addition of Boston College and Miami (FL), the format was set through the 2015 season.

It remains to be seen what this announcement means for the future of the Big East. The conference is now down to seven football schools, which includes the addition of TCU in 2012. If Rutgers and UConn were to move to the ACC, it would almost certainly be the end of the Big East as a football conference.

Football Schedules:

• ACC Football Schedules
• Big East Football Schedules

The series would be the first ever games between the two schools. Clemson is 7-10 overall against teams from the Big 12 while Oklahoma State is 2-5 versus the ACC.

Oklahoma State is the third BCS conference opponent for Clemson on their future schedule, not including their yearly in-state rivalry game with South Carolina. The Tigers face the Georgia Bulldogs in a home-and-home series in 2013-14 and then the Ole Miss Rebels in 2015-16.

The Cowboys have several non-conference games slated out to 2020, but Clemson now becomes one of the biggest. OSU does travel to Arizona to open the 2012 season and has a home-and-home schedule with Air Force in 2015-16.

Football Schedules:

• Clemson Future Football Schedules
• Oklahoma State Future Football Schedules

Miami will host Florida A&M at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens on September 6, 2014. The Canes will host the Rattlers again on September 10, 2016.

Miami is 8-1 all-time against FAMU. The Rattlers picked up their only win in their first meeting in 1979. In that game, FAMU beat Miami 16-13 in Tallahassee.

In their two most recent games, the Hurricanes trounced the Rattlers 48-16 (2009) and 45-0 (2010).

Miami now has three non-conference games scheduled for both the 2014 and 2016 seasons. In 2014, the Canes also host Memphis and travel to Nebraska. In 2016, they host Toledo and travel to Notre Dame.

The game, which was revealed last week, is a rematch of the 2009 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff when No. 5 Alabama defeated No. 7 Virginia Tech 34-24.

“Alabama and Virginia Tech are consistently two of the top teams in the country and there is no question that Nick Saban and Frank Beamer are two of the top coaches in the country,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “This match-up will be the best kickoff to college football, especially with the grand opening of the new College Football Hall of Fame and the enshrinement ceremonies that weekend.”

Tickets will be divided equally between Alabama and Virginia Tech, creating a true neutral field game. The game will be nationally broadcast by either ABC or ESPN.

The Chick-fil-A College Kickoff is an annual college football game played the first week of the season at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. This year’s game features Boise State vs. Georgia.

Listed below is the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff schedule through 2014 (there are two games in 2012):

• 2011 – Boise State vs. Georgia
• 2012 – NC State vs. Tennessee
• 2012 – Auburn vs. Clemson
• 2013 – Alabama vs. Virginia Tech
• 2014 – Boise State vs. Ole Miss

Football Schedules:

• Alabama Future Football Schedules
• Virginia Tech Future Football Schedules

The Chick-fil-A College Kickoff is an annual college football game played the first week of the season at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. This year’s game features Boise State vs. Georgia.

Hokies athletic director Jim Weaver confirms what Virginian-Pilot beat dude Kyle Tucker first unearthed last week, that Tech has agreed to open 2013 against Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome.

The official announcement will come from Atlanta game organizers.

Alabama has been slated to play in the game for some time against an ACC opponent. The Hokies have agreed and have shuffled their future schedules as a result.

Virginia Tech’s non-conference schedule in 2013 was complete, so they had to postpone a 2012-13 home-and-home football series with East Carolina in order to play the Crimson Tide. Tech and ECU will now play in 2016 and 2017.

The 2012 game against the Pirates was the home season-opener, so the Hokies will more than likely schedule an FCS team to fill that slot.

Tech’s 2013 non-conference schedule now looks like this: vs. Alabama (likely 08/31), Western Carolina (09/07), Pittsburgh (09/14) and Marshall (09/21). The Chick-fil-A game against Virginia Tech is the first non-conference game scheduled for the Crimson Tide in 2013.

Listed below is the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff schedule through 2014 (there are two games in 2012):

• 2011 – Boise State vs. Georgia
• 2012 – NC State vs. Tennessee
• 2012 – Auburn vs. Clemson
• 2013 – Alabama vs. Virginia Tech
• 2014 – Boise State vs. Ole Miss

Football Schedules:

• Alabama Future Football Schedules
• Virginia Tech Future Football Schedules

Maryland will face the West Virginia Mountaineers of the Big East on September 21, 2013. In 2014, the Terrapins will play ACC foe Virginia Tech. The exact date will be determined when the ACC releases the schedule in 2014.

M&T Bank Stadium is home to the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. The venue, which seats 71,008, has played host to two previous Maryland football games. The Terps faced Navy there in 2005 and again in 2010.

“We are delighted that the University of Maryland has agreed to host two premier college football games at M&T Bank Stadium,” said Dick Cass, president of the Baltimore Ravens. “With Maryland’s large and loyal fan base and the many supporters of West Virginia and Virginia Tech in the area, we expect both games to be sellouts. We are committed to bringing major events such as Maryland football to the Stadium and Baltimore and look forward to hosting other major events at the Stadium.”

“This is a great opportunity for our student-athletes and the entire state of Maryland,” Terps head coach Randy Edsall said. “We get a chance to increase our fan base, as well as reach out to our alums and followers in the Baltimore area. Playing in M&T Bank Stadium also helps in our recruiting efforts since Baltimore is one of our prime areas. In addition, our current players are always excited to play in an NFL stadium.”