Talk about an ugly mismatch...FIU to play Miami

[gangrene]

FIU to Play Local Rival Miami in Football

Courtesy: Sun Belt Conference Release: 11/01/2005

Courtesy: Associated Press

FIU football will meet Miami on the gridiron in each of the next next two seasons

MIAMI - Florida International University’s Golden Panthers will face the nationally-recognized University of Miami Hurricanes for football games at the Orange Bowl in each of the next two years.

The games will be played on October 14, 2006 and October 6, 2007. They will be the first gridiron meetings between the two Miami-based schools, which are located only 11 miles apart.

"From every measurable standard, these games will have a tremendous impact on our program,” said FIU athletic director Rick Mello. “Recruiting, ticket sales, media exposure, alumni out reach, marketing and above all, exposure in our own community will be significantly enhanced by playing the five-time national champion in our hometown.

“I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to both Paul Dee and Larry Coker for making this happen. From this day forward, our University will make every effort to ensure these two games are a win-win situation for both programs."

"We're very pleased to play Florida International University," said UM athletic director Dee. "Rick Mello had expressed an interested in playing the University of Miami, and as we looked around the country for Division I-A teams, it became clear that Florida International University was a very viable candidate as an opponent.

“Since the games will be played at the Orange Bowl, we made a few concessions to guarantee FIU a number of tickets. Maybe this will start something. I can't help but think that this will help FIU's overall program, but also their recruiting and ticket sales.

"Now that we will play 12 games every year, we want to play seven home games if we can, and that increases our revenue and is good for our fans," Dee continued. "We've played Florida A&M a lot of times over the years. We played South Florida this year. And we have games scheduled against Central Florida (in 2008-2010). We played Florida State every year and we play Florida intermittently. All of these schools play really good football. It's important that we all play locally."

FIU football coach Don Strock added, “This is a great opportunity for a young program like ours to play a team that has won five national championships. I appreciate University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee and head coach Larry Coker for giving us this opportunity.

“Being that we are neighboring schools, I’m sure this will be a draw for a lot of fans from both universities and hopefully, become the start of a rivalry that will continue for many more years to come.”

"Playing FIU is good for both schools,” believes UM’s Coker. FIU has really upgraded its football program. They have played some Big 12 schools and they traveled to Texas Tech and Kansas State this year. It'll be good for both programs and the fans of both schools. The travel is non-existent. It'll be a special game and a fun game. I think our fans like to see local teams, since they know the players, and the players will know each other, too. FIU will give our fans a reason to come, and it'll draw FIU fans, too."