As dedicated FSU fans, we have all been through some tough losses over the years. Personally, I have learned that it is best to come home from a bad game and allow your thoughts to be fully developed prior to sharing them. During the day today, I have briefly read over some of the comments on fanposts and fanshots posted following last night's defeat. It is reasonable for Florida State fans to be upset with the progress, or lack of progress, the team has made since last season. The top-5 ranking at the beginning of the season certainly adds a negative effect to the 7-4 record Florida State has and losses to Wake Forest and Virginia don't help either.

However, I want to warn fans not to overreact to the 2011 season. Yes, we have failed to defeat a high quality opponent (Miami is the best team we've defeated all season). We have also lost to Wake Forest and Virginia. That shouldn't happen at Florida State. Those defeats prove that there have been flaws surrounding the team this season that were not expected entering this season. Injuries, scheduling and refs haven't helped much either. Anyone who follows FSU football knows what has happened thru the first 11 games of the season so I won't stress on it any longer. 

I want to remind everyone that 2012 will be a brighter season. I'm not just an optimistic Florida State homer. Take a look at the depth chart and remind yourself which players have made impacts this season and you'll notice many of those players will be back in 2012.

• We return our starting quarterback
• Freeman and Wilder are both freshman this season
• Bert Reed is the only senior receiver among the extremely talented WR corps
• Nick O'Leary is only a freshman this season
• Zebrie Sanders is the only senior O-lineman who has been playing lately. The other guys haven't been playing the best but they are all very young and will improve.
• The only D-lineman who might be gone is Jenkins, and that all depends if he leaves for NFL early.
• Bradham is the only current senior linebacker
• Parks and Harris are senior DB's but Moody and Karlos Williams will replace Parks while Xavier Rhodes continues to replace Harris.
• Powell will be gone but Hopkins returns

We must remind ourselves of how young the team in 2011 truely is. There are numerous freshmen and sophomores who have already made a big impact on the team and they'll only get better in the offseason. Did you listen to the seniors introduced prior to the game on Saturday? No disrespect to the seniors, but there really isn't much being lost following the season. Powell and Bradham might be the biggest losses from the current starting lineup and one of them is a punter. The 'Noles also have the #2 recruiting class, as of now, that'll be enrolling next season so some of those players may also make an impact next season and seasons to come.

Some people on this site are already counting losses for next season. Clemson and Florida both come to Tallahassee next season and neither of those games are guraranteed losses. Both teams were beatable this season and they'll be beatable next season as well. Oklahoma is no longer on the schedule but games against USF, Virginia Tech and WVU do exist. The West Virginia game could and should be removed from the schedule, making the season much more managable. 

@VT, Clemson, Florida, West Virginia, @USF, @Miami, Wake Forest, @NC State, Boston College, Duke, @Maryland, Murray State

That is arguable the order of FSU's schedule next season from toughest to easiest, assuming WVU remains on schedule. It is a very do-able schedule for a team that returns majority of its contributing players. Yes, this season has sucked, but brighter days are ahead. We aren't in a situation like Miami is currently in: poor 2011 season + scandal + 2011 team filled with seniors.

 A win against Florida next Saturday will bring some relief to the disappointing 2011 season but certainly won't make-up for the 4 losses. However, regardless of this season's record, remind yourself that very little will be lost during the off-season, setting up a positive 2012 season.

I want to break down how the ticket process at FSU is handled, because it is very apparent that most Oklahoma fans don't seem to understand it. Oklahoma game is the biggest home game on FSU's schedule this year. If the game went on sale like every other home game we have this year (besides the Miami game), the game would be sold out within a couple of days. So the FSU ticket office is smart and they decided to limit who can order the tickets. They required that you must either be a season ticket holder, a booster member, or purchase a 3-game ticket plan.

Why was this a smart idea? It requires fans to purchase either a 3-game ticket plan for over $150, a "family zone" season ticket for $199, a "young alumni" season ticket for $199 or a regular season ticket plan worth $321. That is instead of charging $75 for a single ticket. Obviously the university makes a lot more money when they require fans to purchase one of the ticket packages.

The 3-game ticket plan, the "family zone" season ticket, and the "young alumni" season ticket are all SOLD OUT right now. Therefore, the only way to get tickets thru the FSU ticket office is by purchasing a regular season ticket for $321.

So why isn't the game technically sold out? Because there are approximately 600 seats available for new season ticket holders to aquire. FSU is encouraging people to purchase a season ticket rather than opening up single game tickets to the general public.

So stop claiming you guys are "shocked" it's not sold out, because the only reason why it isn't "sold out" yet is because the FSU ticket office is being smart and trying to make the most money possible. Like I said earlier, if single game tickets were sold to this game, it would have been sold out months ago.

Please research this stuff before you make a post or comment on this subject matter. It has nothing to do with a horrible fan base, or driving distance, or lack of success recently. If I were in charge of the ticket office, I'd do exactly what FSU is doing for this game and I'm sure you guys would too. By the way, the same system is in place for the Miami game this year and it was the same way tickets were sold to the UF game last year.  

Every Saturday in the fall, the ESPN College Gameday crew travels to a college football stadium that will host one of the most anticipated games of the week. The first ever broadcast 'on the road' took place in 1993 for the Notre Dame-Florida State game. Ever since then, the pregame show has gained much popularity. It is highlighted when Lee Corso (former FSU qb) puts on a mascot head piece of the team he chooses to win the game. The show is broadcasted in front of thousands of fans who gather outside the stadium. The Gameday crew chooses their destinations a week before each game. However, rather than waiting until the season starts, I made a list of my predictions for where the College Gameday crew will end up each week. The first game listed each week is my first pick for each week, followed by two other  notable games.

Week 1: Oregon vs. LSU
 Boise St. vs. Georgia
Minnesota vs. Southern Cal

Week 2:  Notre Dame vs. Michigan
Alabama vs. Penn State
BYU vs. Texas

Week 3: Oklahoma vs. FSU
Auburn vs. Clemson
Ohio St. vs. Miami

Week 4: Arkansas vs. Alabama
 LSU vs. West Virginia
FSU vs. Clemson

Week 5:  Nebraska vs. Wisconsin
 Alabama vs. Florida
Notre Dame vs. Purdue

Week 6: Ohio State vs. Nebraska
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Florida vs. LSU

Week 7: Arizona State vs. Oregon
Michigan vs. Michigan State
Florida vs. Auburn

Week 8: Wisconsin vs. Michigan State
 USC vs. Notre Dame
Washington vs. Stanford

Week 9:  Stanford vs. USC
Wisconsin vs. Ohio State
Michigan State vs. Nebraska

Week 10: LSU vs. Alabama
Stanford vs. Oregon State
Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma

Week 11: Oregon vs. Stanford
Texas vs. Missouri
Miami vs. FSU

Week 12: USC vs. Oregon
 LSU vs. Ole Miss
Nebraska vs. Michigan

Week 13: Oregon State vs. Oregon
Notre Dame vs. Stanford
FSU vs. Florida

This article can also be found at http://fsutomahawkchop.blogspot.com/ 

Ed.: Edited, bumped. FanPosts/FanShots are always welcome, even from FSU fans. This one's probably going to be fun in the comments.

If you couldn't tell by my commenter name, I am an FSU fan (and current student). But at the same time I'm a huge sports fan, especially college football, so I spend time reading sites from all around the country to better educate myself. I've read several posts on this site where some of you have mentioned teams you thought were Florida's biggest rival. So I wanted to create a post (although it may have been done in the past) to see who you guys would rank as UF's top three or four rivals, in order. 

Continue reading this post »

This is a topic that I wanted to bring up reguarding the ACC in order to see how ACC fans view rooting for other teams in the ACC when they play non-conference games. What led me to bringing this topic up was all the talk from SEC fans saying "Go SEC! We're the best conference in America! Champions again!" I've had lengthy talks with some of my SEC friends about this topic and I've asked them to explain to me what is the big deal about rooting for your rival in a National Championship game just because they are in your conference? UF fans, for example, have bragged to me about the SEC when Auburn, Alabama, and LSU have won the National Championship. This would be equivalent to FSU fans bragging that Virginia Tech, Miami, and North Carolina won a Championship. I don't know about all of you, but I certainly wouldn't be happy if any of those teams won a Championship, especially Miami.

If any other team in the conference wins a National Championship, we don't get to hold the trophy. We don't get any Championship rings, or banners, or school bragging rights. So why is it such an accomplishment for schools if other teams in their conference win the National Championship? If anything, it means you have more challenging competition in your conference, which makes it more difficult for your team to reach the Championship game.

I tell my UF friends that I would put FSU in the ACC rather than the SEC any day of the week. I prefer having a conference schedule like the 2011 season where FSU has to win at Clemson, home against Miami, and possibly against Virginia Tech in ACCCG. Compare that to a UF schedule that includes games at Auburn, at LSU, at South Carolina, and home against Alabama.

Sure, being in the SEC where teams win more Championships gives each team more money. Those SEC schools are enjoying a better tv deal than the SEC and they earn more money from ticket sales based on better fan bases and stadiums. But so what? We play in the state of Florida so we are more tha capable of grabbing a top recruiting class. (Just look at this past year). FSU having less money than SEC schools doesn't prevent us from having great facilities, coaches, players, or fans. FSU is capable of being a national powerhouse without the extra money. Therefore, I'd prefer having an easier conference schedule and an easier road to an undefeated season than to play in the SEC where going undefeated in your own conference is much harder. Once Oklahoma is off our schedule, compare our road to a championship to any SEC school.

I'll end this with a final question to the readers: If an ACC team such as Clemson, Miami, or Virginia Tech were in the National Championship against a school from another conference and won the National Championship, would you brag to all your friends that the ACC was the best that season? For me, I'd actually root against a team like Miami and Clemson. I'd only 'root' for an ACC team if it was a team like Duke playing Florida (not that it would ever happen). Express your opinions on the topic of rooting for your conference.

The Florida State men's basketball team just wrapped up another successful season They made it to the sweet 16 for the first time since the '92-'93 season. The 'Noles were one basket away from making it to the elite 8 but lost a heartbreaker to the hottest team in the nation, VCU. It's been noted that FSU has now won atleast 20 games in five of the last six years and has the third best conference record in the ACC the last few years, trailing the last two national champions, Duke and North Carolina. That final stat is not something to take lightly.

Florida State University is widely known as a football school. When people think Seminoles, they think Bobby Bowden, Osceola & Renegade, Doak Campbell Stadium, and the two national championships. What about basketball? Not so much. With the exception of a few historic seasons in the 1970's and the early 1990's, Florida State basketball has been as important as Duke football. When the football season ended, fans in Tallahassee would maybe get excited in April for a spring football game or in June for the college baseball postseason, but otherwise, it was a long 8 months until football season began again.

However, thanks to Coach Hamilton, there is now a sport that bridges the gap between the end of football season and the start of spring football. I was excited for basketball this season, especially the NCAA tournament. I was on the edge of my seat watching our games on t.v this month, just praying for us to win. And winning we did. The Texas A&M game got us hat first tournament win since '92-'93. Then the Notre Dame game brought joy and excitement to the players, coaches, and fans of Seminole nation. This university and town was finally excited about a big time college sport other than football. It was nice reading articles online that talked about FSU BASKETBALL, rather than only football. This was not the case for most of Florida State's history. But thanks to Coach Hamilton, basketball season brings more excitement to this university than ever before.

If you don't believe me, take a look at the attendance this season. Better yet, find a replay of the Duke game this year and close your eyes and just listen to the excitement of the fans. Recall how many of your friends and alumni of FSU were actually talking about FSU basketball in the month of March. Remember the excitement of having Florida State screw up your tournament bracket because they pulled off the upset over Notre Dame. These little things are things that haven't existed in Tallahassee in a long time. Once again, thanks to Coach Hamilton.

The criticism he receives from some of the fan base is unfair because people seem to forget that the sport he coaches is basketball, not football. At this university, there is a huge difference between a successful football season and a successful basketball season; or atleast there was. Third place in the ACC for us in football is not nearly as great as 3rd place in basketball. Everyone should recognize the differences in the two programs. However, Coach Hamilton has closed the gap quite a bit between the two sports. Thanks to his success at FSU, fans are now raising their expectations for this program. There is nothing wrong with raising expectations, but Coach Hamilton shouldn't be blamed because FSU isn't winning any ACC or national championships. If it weren't for Coach Ham, the word championship, or even basketball, would not be mentioned reguarding FSU in the month of March.

Just take a second to think about  what Coach Hamilton has done with this program with such little support. Basketball doesn't have the funding at FSU like football does. Basketball doesn't have the rich tradition. Kids don't grow up saying they want to play basketball at Florida State. The assistant coaches here don't match the ones at Duke or UNC. And yet, this team made it to the sweet 16 and finished third in the ACC. Not to mention, Chris Singleton missed some crucial games at the end of the season and in both post season tournaments.

So when next season bounces along, and you're sreaming at your television when the 'Noles offense only scores 55 points, don't get pissed off at Coach Hamilton without first thinking about what he has done for this program. If his success can continue, Florida State may finally be a program like Ohio State or Florida that has the potential to make it to the championship in both basketball and football. Without Coach Hamilton, I'd be writting about spring football practice rather than FSU basketball. Thank You Coach Ham for the success you've brought FSU in recent years.

With the ACC schedule being released earlier this week and all the talk surrounding it, mostly negative, I figured we should turn the topic of scheduling into something more fun and exciting. Face it, the football season is way too far away not to have a little fun in the meantime. First, however, we gotta give the middle finger to the ACC. It's apparent that most FSU fans have different beliefs than the ACC when it comes to scheduling. So let's pretend FSU decides to go independant once again, enabling them to practically create their own 12-season schedule. There is 1 catch though, you're the athletic director and you have complete control on scheduling FSU's opponents.

Here are the guidelines:

1) Assume there is no requirement to play Florida and Miami.

2) Assume all other schools have space on their schedule for FSU.

3) Assume you must schedule 12 regular season games.

4) Assume a minimum of 5 games must be on the road.

5) Assume the BCS standings still exist, so strength of schedule can still affect the team's ranking.

6) Assume only 1 FCS school counts towards being bowl elgible.

7) Assume this schedule will be played in the 2011 season.

*Note: there is obviously no conference championship in this scenario, so take that into account when you determine your strength of schedule.

Imagine what schools you'd love to watch play inside Doak Campbell stadium. Also imagine what stadiums you'd love to travel to and tell your kids and grandkids all about. You can either just list all the road games and home games you'd like to schedule, or you can take it a step further and actually place the games in the order you'd like to have them scheduled (including a bye week). So go ahead, have some fun!

It’s never too early to look ahead to next year’s season, unless of course, if you’re Jimbo Fisher or a member of the Seminole football team. Florida State had a pretty successful season under Jimbo, including huge wins over Miami and Florida, as well as a division crown. Despite losing key players like Christian Ponder, Rodney Hudson and Ryan McMahan, the future looks bright in Tallahassee. FSU is projected to start the 2011 season ranked higher than the start of the 2010 season. Following a visit to the ACC Championship game, the Seminoles have their eyes set on winning the ACC game in ’11 and reach a BCS bowl game for the first time since 2005. Let’s take a look at next year’s schedule.

Non-Conference Games:

Charleston Southern

Louisiana-Monroe

Oklahoma

@ Florida

ACC Atlantic Games:

Maryland

NC State

@Clemson

@Wake Forest

@Boston College

ACC Rival Game:

Miami

ACC Rotating Games:

Virginia

@Duke

Notes on the schedule:

Advantages in 2011 vs. 2010:

·         FSU replaces BYU on the schedule with Charleston Southern/Louisiana-Monroe.

·         FSU hosts Oklahoma instead of traveling to Oklahoma.

·         FSU hosts Miami instead of traveling to Miami.

·         FSU gets Virginia and Duke from the Coastal Division. Couldn’t get any easier than that.

Disadvantages in 2011 vs. 2010:

·         FSU plays in Gainesville instead of playing in Tallahassee.

·         FSU plays on the road in 3 of the 5 Atlantic Division games.

As noted above, Florida State does have an overall easier schedule in 2011 than they did in 2010. I believe Charleston Southern, Louisiana-Monroe, @Duke, and Virginia are all almost guaranteed wins.

Maryland, @Clemson, @Wake Forest and @Boston College will be key games for FSU to win in order to secure the ACC Atlantic division. In the “lost decade” for Florida State, these type of ‘should win’ games were the games that the Seminoles failed to run away with, and many times ended up losing. If this team wants to return to the days of conference champions and BCS bowl-bound, they must win these games next season.

NC State, Oklahoma, Miami and @Florida will be the toughest four games for the ‘Noles, assuming Russell Wilson stays at NC State for another season.  I think if he returns next year, the Wolfpack could still be a dangerous team. Thankfully Florida State won’t have to play in Raleigh on a Thursday night. As Florida State looks to defend their state championship, the Seminoles will face two programs looking for revenge. Florida State should be favored in both games, but I don’t think either game will be a blowout like this past season. Miami will still have some highly-rated seniors and juniors so they could make a run with Virginia Tech in the Coastal Division. Florida will also be a tough game because it’ll be in Gainesville next season and it would be difficult to imagine the Gators having a worse season than 2010. Both Miami and Florida have new coaching staffs so next year’s matchups will be very intriguing. The Oklahoma Sooners will most likely be the toughest game all season for the ‘Noles. If you want proof, just look back at the 2010 season. Thankfully for the Seminoles, the game will be played in Tallahassee. This game will change the make-up of the season. A win in this game will lead to premature national championship talk. However, a loss will eliminate those chances and cause the Seminoles to re-focus on the ACC schedule and a chance of reaching the Orange Bowl.

Early prediction:

The 2011 Florida State team will be the best we’ve since in nearly a decade. My prediction is that the Seminoles will finish 10-2, with Oklahoma as the most likely candidate to hand FSU a loss. UF, Miami, NC State, Clemson, and Boston College have potential to upset the ‘Noles but I believe only one of them will. Following the 10-2 season, FSU will represent the Atlantic Division in Charlotte. However, I believe the Seminoles will get revenge on Virginia Tech and make it to the Orange Bowl for the first time in 2005. FSU will also finish the year with a top-15 ranking and begin legitimate national championship talks for the following season.

As we enter the final month of the football regular season, I'd like to pose a question to all the readers... what will it take in this final month of the 2010 FSU football season in order for it to be considered a successful year?

The 'Noles currently sit at 6-2 overall and 4-1 in the ACC. FSU is tied with Maryland and NC State in the loss column right now and the Atlantic Division race is expected to come down to the final few weeks. Last year at this point Florida State was 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC. A division title wasn't even on FSU's radar at this time last year, they were still fighting to become bowl elgible and avoid a losing season. So it's obvious that this season has been better thus far than last season. However, is that good enough to mark this season as successful?

A division title is still up for grabs and the 'Noles still have a lot of work to do and teams to pul for in order to win the Atlantic. Are the 'Noles in need of a division title in order for this year to be successful?

If the Seminoles win the division, they would then travel to North Carolina and face the Coastal Division winner in the ACC Championship game. Does FSU need to win the ACC in order for the 2010 campaign to be considered successful?

Last month Florida State crushed Miami and with the annual FSU-UF game comming up at the end of November, would a 2nd victory over an in-state rival in one season equal a successful season?

What if none of the things above happen, but the Seminoles finish with 7, 8, or 9 victories this year? And then go on to win a bowl game. That would still surpass last year's record. Is that all that is needed for this year to be successful?

Everyone has a different opinion as to what needs to be done this month in order to label the 2010 football season a successful one. What is your opinion?

This season is a perfect example of how Jimbo's scheduling tactics will benefit FSU much more than those harsh schedules that Bowden agreed to. If FSU had scheduled a cupcake opponent for a home game in week 2 instead of Oklahoma, FSU would be 4-0 right now.  FSU was ranked 17th heading into the Oklahoma game. An easy victory in week 2 to a cupcake team, along with victories against BYU and Wake Forest, would put the Seminoles ranked near the top 10. There would be no storylines in the news discussing FSU's blowout loss to Oklahoma. Instead, FSU would currently be the highest ranked ACC team and they'd be closing in on UF in the rankings for the first time in quite a few years.

Jimbo Fisher plans on replacing tough non-conference games, like the one at Oklahoma, with much easier games that'll be played at home. Not only will it add victories to FSU's record, but it will also add an extra home game that'll boost the total attendance for the year. It's a win-win situation for the Seminoles.

It's also mandatory in the BCS-era  if you want to compete with teams like UF that schedule teams like Appalachian State and Miami (Ohio). BCS teams don't get punished enough for scheduling cupcake teams, so why should FSU play teams like Oklahoma and USF? We already play UF every season, so why add any more difficulty to the schedule? Thank you Jimbo Fisher for realizing one of the flaws in this BCS system. Go Noles!

ACC and SEC stadium capicities (grey) with the percentage of stadium dedicated to student section (blue)

 After doing the math...Largest Student Sections in the ACC/SEC:

1) Florida: 21,250

2) Georgia 17,600

3) Virginia Tech: 17,200

---4)Alabama: 16,700 - Alabama just added 2,000 seats to their student section over the summer so they are now larger by just a couple hundred

4) Florida State: 16,000

5) Auburn: 14,900

6) Alabama: 14,700 (Prior to 2010)

7) LSU: 13,800

I wanted to post this because some readers weren't giving FSU students any credit for selling out the student section the first two games of the season. As you can see from above, FSU has a larger student section than majority of the ACC and the SEC, including Auburn and LSU. This shows that it is a great accomplishment to sell out such a large student section.

I realize tickets are free and students don't have to go far to attend the game, but 16,000 is nearly half of the undergraduate students. Thats a large percentage considering majority of the students at FSU are women and there's aways going to be a handful of people who just don't care about sports/ go home most weekends in college.

I was just proud of the student section this year because my first 2 years as a student, we never sold out the student section, not even for the florida game. So for us to sell out the game vs Samford is a great accomplishment. I've read articles from the past decade saying how empty the student section has been over the years so it's great for this program to have a student body that is this excited about football.

And I know that when the games are less hot and when it's not a blowout entering the 4th quarter, the students will remain in their seats for a much larger portion of the game. Go Noles!

Someone recently posted a post about Doak not being very intimidating anymore. That statement is absolutely correct. Our football team played a great game against BYU and the atmosphere was no where near where it should have been. First of all, when majority of the south endzone is empty, it looks really really bad. I sit in the student section and anytime I look across the stadium and see over 10,000 empty seats in one area, I get pretty depressed. I've heard eveyone's excuses about not showing up to the game, but really, it's still very bad. I was looking at attendance numbers. The Samford game had 68,400 people and the BYU game had 68,800 people. Two years ago we played Western Carolina (73,000 fans) and Chattanooga (71,600) our first two games and then last year we played Jacksonville State our 2nd game, following a miami loss and that game had 71,400 fans. Can someone tell me how did Chattanooga, Western Carolina, and Jacksonville State each have more fans in attendance than the BYU game?? Especially since BYU had about 6,000 fans there.

I may be biased, but thank goodness for the student section this year. We sold out our student tickets for both games this year so that's 16,000 tickets added right there. I don't understand why the student section attendance is up this year but the rest of the tickets are down. I also dont understand how we had 51,000 fans for the spring game but only 17,000 more showed up for a game versus BYU.

We need to get Doak rocking. It is quiet compared to many division 1 college football stadiums out there. I was able to work on the sideline for espn last year for the Auburn-LSU game and I've never heard a stadium so loud in my life. Even at the end of the game, when LSU was winning by a good margin and half the fans were gone, the stadium still got louder than Doak does at the beginning of a game. Obviously no stadium compares to LSU, but when I was there, I just kept wishing Doak could be louder than it is now. We need to support our team and be the 12th man.

I realize winning is more important than attendance, but that extra noise inside the stadium goes a long way in jumpstarting our players and get them pumped up. Take some pride in your team, pack the stadium, and be loud and proud. Don't wait until the November home games to come out and support FSU.

BTW, two years ago the attendance for the Wake Forest game was 79,000. That would be an amazing number to hit this time. Go 'Noles!

 I believe this year's Oklahoma game is equivalent to last year's Miami game. I firmly believe that the Miami game on labor day last year set the tone for the rest of the season. If we would have won that game, an 8, 9 or 10 win season would have been quite possible and maybe Bobby would still be head coach (whether you think that's good or bad). One huge victory at the beginning of the season goes a long way. Not just in the rankings, but also with team/fan morale.

That's why I believe the Oklahoma game is the most important of the season. I know it's an OOC game, so it doesn't affect our ACC standings. And I also know they aren't considered a rivalry with us either. However, this game still means more than an ACC game against MIami, Clemson, or Boston College. And it means more than a win over rival Florida. If we win this game, our ranking will sky-rocket to the top 15 or top 10. On top of that, it'll put Jimbo Fisher on top of the college football world to start the season and all talks about Bobby Bowden being "forced out' will no longer exist. It'll also lead to a sell-out croud vs BYU and many of the rest of our home games this season.

A victory at Oklahoma would build the team's confidence way up and it can easily lead to a dominence over BYU. Then the following two weeks we easily defeat Wake Forest and Virginia. That puts FSUat 5-0, ranked in the top 7 probably. There's no doubt that'll create discussions about FSU completely being back to an elite ranking. We'd obviously still have big games remaining, but I believe a start like that and a top 10 ranking will do HUGE things for this program. It'll bring back the excitement to Doak that once existed during the national championship years.

(BY THE WAY.... UF plays at Alabama the same week we play at Virginia) So not only would we be ranked top 10, but we'd also be ranked better than UF after that week assuming they loose to Alabama) Just take a second to think about how epic that would be.

On the negative side, a loss at Oklahoma wouldn't create that same excitement. (Especially after seeing Oklahoma play in week 1). FSU wouldn't be considered back to elite yet and the best FSU would be able to hope for is a possible ACC championship game appearance. I realize a loss at Oklahoma won't neccessarily ruin the season, because I still think we'll win our division reguardless. I'm just saying that a win at Oklahoma will get us to "elite" status as quickly as possible.

 Hello all....

At the beginning of the month I posted a fanpost reguarding the lack of attendence for FSU football (compared to other elite school around the country). You all gave some good reasons/excuses for the lack of attendance. However, I am still annoyed at this problem with ticket sales.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, as of Friday afternoon (August 27th), there are 15,000 tickets remaining for the first football game. Yes, 15,000!! That means there are currently only about 68,000 tickets sold and we have a week until the game. That's embarrassing for an elite program like FSU.

This is Jimbo Fisher's first game as head coach at FSU, we have a potential heisman quarterback, and a program that seems to be on the rise. Now I know some of you will say "the game is at noon" "it's too far away" "it's Samford" "I have a family" "Too much money." "Game's on tv"

Well you know what, those are pretty bad excuses. UF is playing Miami, Ohio for their first game. So they aren't any better than Stamford. They also play at noon. Their game is on tv as well (espn). And their fans have family and money issues as well. The only thing that's different is location and that 2 hour difference between g-ville and tally shouldn't account for a 25,000 ticket differential.

I realize they have had better success lately, but if we have true fans, it shouldn't matter if we're ranked 20th or if we're ranked 1st. We have to pack the Doak! I'm tired of fans only attending the big games or when we're ranked high. Part of being a true seminole is supporting your team in person as often as possible.

Only 68,000 tickets sold to this point is pretty embarrassing for our program. I sure hope many people buy tickets this week. Go Noles!

P.S Before anyone takes offense to this post, I realize most of the readers on this site are die-hard fans and attend many games or watch the games from very far away. This post is inteded for FSU fans in general and is my reaction to the large amount of tickets that remain unsold.

Hello all my fellow seminole fans. First of all, I'd like to say I'm absolutely stoked that we have a month until the season finally begins. I'm a Junior at FSU and I cant wait to be back in that student section. However, there is something that has been bothering me ever since I became a student at FSU, and that's attendence.

I decided to post this post today after reading about how Oklahoma was able to sell out their single game tickets to the FSU-OU game in a blink of the eye. It got me thinking.... Why can't Doak sell out its tickets in a matter of minutes or hours?

FSU obviously plays a good enough home schedule to sell out a couple of its games very quickly. The Miami game and Florida game didn't even officially sell out the last couple of years and we had plenty of help from their fans who bought away tickets to the game. So the lack of a quality opponent isn't the problem.

Sometimes there could be a problem with the size of the fanbase. Well I know this definitely isn't the problem. I live in Tampa when I'm not in Tally for school and I see a large amount of FSU fans down here. I just got back from a cruise yesterday and while I was on the ship, I saw many FSU fans wearing FSU attire, far more than UF fans. My point is we all know that FSU has a huge fanbase so lets eliminate that issue.

Another potential problem could be the price of games during these economic times. Well tickets to the FSU home games average around $50 per game. On the Oklahoma website, tickets for the FSU-OU game started at $87. I looked around at other elite programs websites and most of their tickets are more expensive than ours and yet they still sell out their games.

So that leads me to believe its a mixture of 2 things that are preventing Doak from selling out games.

1) Location of FSU  2) Lack of wins

I find both of those reasons unexcusable. First of all, FSU only plays 6 or 7 home games per year. There are highways and interstates out there. Hop onto the interstate and you can be in Tallahassee within 4-5 hours unless you live in south florida. You can't say making that drive 6-7 times a year is too much. I was able to do that my freshman year with no problem. PLus when you include the student section, im sure over 1/3 of the stadium is from Tallahassee anyways. If you say its too expensive staying at a hotel, just imagine how costly it would be if the tix at Doak were the same price as other elite stadiums or if we played the same number of games as the NFL.

Second of all, the lack of wins is the worst excuse ever. If you are a true fan, you go to the games reguardless of record. Besides, FSU has been to a bowl game nearly 30 years in a row now so it's not like we've been finishing the year with only 5 wins. Take Michigan for example: They've been having worse seasons than FSU lately and they still sit 100,000+ to each game.

So PLEASE, somebody please tell me why can't Doak sell out its games quicker and more frequently???

It's as simple as that. For the sake of time, let's just look at one scenario that "Mr. College Football" had posted on his site about what the SEC would look like if it took a few ACC teams in an expansion.

New East Division: Georgia, Georgia Tech, Florida, Florida State, Miami, South Carolina, Clemson, Tennessee.

New West Division: Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Kentucky, Vanderbilt.

Let's compare our current division schedule to our division schedule in the scenario above.

ACC Atlantic:                    SEC East:

Clemson                           Clemson

Boston College                Georgia Tech

NC State                            Tennessee

Wake Forest                     Georgia

Maryland                             South Carolina

                                             Miami

                                             Florida

(Now i know we currently play miami and florida every year anyways, but we don't have to compete with them for division record. In this new scenario, we would.)

 The two divisions above don't even compare in toughness. I don't care how much money we receive, there is no way any amount of money can make up for the much much more difficult division we coulld possibly be in if an expansion occured. I know this is one scenario of about a million when it comes to conference reallignment, however, no matter what, our route to a championship would become tougher due to an increase in teams. This is why i'm only in favor or expansion if a playoff is formed, giving us a resonable shot of winning a championship.

I want to ask everyone a serious question: what's more important? A) Added funding for the team or B) winning a championship  

Obviously we all want both, but I just don't see that happening too many times with the increase in conference difficulty.

Okay, in my opinion, all the expansion talk is pretty overrated right now. Atleast for our Florida State Seminoles, I don't think there should be any worry about what other conferences do when it comes to expanding.

 The main reason behind this idea is the fact that in the BCS era, strength of schedule means absolutely nothing if you're in a BCS conference. I don't care who you are, if you play a BCS schedule and you go undefeated, you will be in the national championship. Heck, if you go the entire year with 1 loss you got a pretty decent shot too. Why do you think so many teams (besides fsu) play a horrible OOC schedule? it's because the talent of those teams you play means absolutely nothing. Just look at UF. They play all cupcake OOC games, besides the game against us, and that doesn't prevent them from going to the national championship game. There was a post on here the other day that pointed out how a tough SOS leads to a poor season. So we don't need to add teams to the ACC to beef up our competition.

 Now I realize most of the talk surrounding the expansion has to do with money and tv deals. I think the money situation is also a bit overrated. Yes, I said money is overrated in this situation. Now don't get me wrong, I'd love for FSU to have a lot more money to spend. We'd get a brain new practice facility, a new atheletic dorm, a few more hires like trainers and nutritionalists. However, we perform pretty well without all that extra stuff back in our glory days. You may think all of that will help draw in better recruits, however, the name FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY is enough to draw in some of the best atheletes out there. We finished 7-6 for the 3rd time in 4 years and haven't won a national championship in over a decade, but we still managed a top 10 recruiting class.

Now this all leads to the bulk of this post. If we will be quite capable of remaining a successful program, why change anything? Why would we even think about joining a conference (like the SEC) and put ourselves in a tough position to win a conference championship? Why would we add 4 more teams to the ACC and make it more difficult to win our own conference? How the ACC is set up now is perfect for FSU. Just look at our division this year. If Kyle Parker goes pro in baseball, whick in all likely hood will happen, Boston College will be our only challengers for our division. And that's only because they have as easy of an ACC schedule as it gets. Please tell me which division or conference would give us an easier route to a conference championship game than our current situation? If we wn the games we're supposed to, we practically just have to win one conference championship game in order to make it to a BCS bowl game. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

Also, once our non-conference schedule gets easier, our chances of reaching 10, 11, 12 win seasons will become even easier for us. That'll put us in national championship talks despite playing in a "weaker" conference. So my question is, what's more important....... making some more money or winning multiple conference/national championships?

I'm pretty sure everyone reading this will be much happier seeing us win a championship as opposed to making some extra money due to a t.v deal. We all know that winning is true happiness, not an expensive tv deal. WE ARE FLORIDA STATE. We'll return to our winning ways and have great success playing in the conference we're in now. We don't need any changes to prove what we are capable of on the field. Go 'Noles!