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Why Are Gators Playing FAU?

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By ANDY STAPLES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 13, 2007

GAINESVILLE - University of Florida football fans may hate this week's matchup with Florida Atlantic. They may wonder why the Gators didn't use the NCAA-approved 12th regular-season game to play a home-and-home matchup against Texas, Oregon, Notre Dame or some other intriguing program.

Florida won't do that. Officials don't want to give up a $2 million home game, and besides, they say, a Southeastern Conference schedule and an annual matchup with Florida State is hard enough.

Still, peeved Florida fans can take solace in the fact that by playing FAU, the Gators are easing a financial burden on a few of their fellow Floridians - specifically, the folks who pay tuition for the students at FAU. Thanks to the $500,000 the Owls will receive to take their whipping at Florida Field, only 12.3 percent of FAU in-state undergraduate students' tuition will be used to subsidize the athletic department.

University of Florida associate athletic director Greg McGarity laid out several thick folders on his desk a year ago this week and proceeded to explain how Florida ended up with an abominable matchup against Division I-AA Western Carolina in this schedule slot. McGarity said the first inquiries he made when trying to line up a Week 12 opponent for last season were to smaller state universities such as FAU and Florida International.

As the richest athletic department in the state, Florida receives some political pressure to help out its little brothers in the state university system. Florida State and USF don't really need the help, but FAU, FIU, Central Florida and plenty of smaller schools can use the dough that comes from a guarantee game.

In FAU's case, the athletic department requires about $12.2 million to run, according to budget documents posted on the school's Web site. Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley probably could find more than that in the cushions of his office couch, but Florida football has been a cash cow for a long time. FAU, meanwhile, earns only a few million in athletic revenue, mostly from a football program that debuted in 2001 and jumped to Division I-A in 2004. The rest has to come from somewhere, and this year about $8 million is coming from students who must pay $13.75 of each $112.23 credit hour to athletics.

Florida also charges an athletic fee to offset the cost of free and discount student tickets. Each in-state undergraduate student at Florida pays $1.90 of each $108.55 credit hour (1.8 percent) to athletics. In this year's budget, Florida's athletic department expected to receive $2.55 million in student fees. Of course, the athletic department donated $6 million to the university in August to fund academic scholarships, wiping out any profit gained from the wallets of UF's students and their parents.

So, Florida fans, while you may not get much satisfaction from Saturday's probable pummeling, just remember this: If you meet the father or mother of an FAU student, tell them that because of the Gators, they're writing a slightly smaller tuition check.

WERNER WATCH: Florida basketball coach Billy Donovan singled out F Dan Werner following the Gators' second exhibition game last week, saying that if Werner's shots wouldn't fall, Werner needed to find another way to contribute. The sophomore took the message to heart.

In Florida's first two games, Werner had 14 rebounds, four assists and four steals. If Werner's confidence in his jumper returns, a few points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals a game could make him a pretty valuable asset.

UF SHORTS

HONOR ROLL: Florida sophomore G Brittaney Thomas was named the SEC women's basketball player of the week Monday after scoring 17 points in a season-opening win against Xavier on Friday.

SOUNDBITE CENTRAL: "We're going to go to church and pray a lot. I'm going to have wife Beverlee find a seance lady and have a seance. Then we'll maybe invoke the deity and maybe invoke the devil." - Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger telling The Palm Beach Post how the Owls intend to defend Florida QB Tim Tebow.

LOOK OUT FOR: Florida's football game against Florida State on Nov. 24 will be televised by WTSP, Channel 10, and will kick off at 5 p.m.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Which of the records that QB Tim Tebow broke or tied this past Saturday impressed you most? Vote at TBO.com, keyword: Gators Report.

BLOG BONUS: Go to TBO.com, keyword: Gators Report, for a handy guide to the potential outcomes of the remaining SEC football games and how they affect Florida's now-dormant quest for the SEC East Division title.

Andy Staples

Reporter Andy Staples can be reached at (352) 262-3719 or astaples@tampatrib.com.

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