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FSU, Miami Meet On Labor Day to Open ACC Play

Associated Press file photo (2008)

Miami will resume its rivalry with FSU in Tallahassee on Labor Day in prime time.

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The Associated Press

Published: February 12, 2009

Updated: 02/12/2009 01:10 pm

After a two-year hiatus, the annual Miami-Florida State game is back in prime time.

The Hurricanes visit the Seminoles in Tallahassee on Sept. 7 — Labor Day night — this season, giving the Atlantic Coast Conference a marquee matchup to open the 2009 campaign. The game will be on ESPN.

The new ACC schedule came out today. It includes Florida State's Sept. 26 matchup with South Florida, the first meeting between the Bulls and Seminoles. The game will be in Tallahassee.

USF officially announced a home-and-home agreement with FSU in January. The Bulls will host the Seminoles at Raymond James Stadium on Sept. 29, 2012.

League play concludes for the second straight year with the ACC Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Dec. 5.

Miami and Florida State played the college version of "Monday Night Football" to start the 2005 and 2006 seasons, with the Seminoles winning each by three points. The game was back in its customary October slot the past two years.

"We better be ready to go Day One, because this will be a totally different opener than we had last season," Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder said. "I think it is great to be featured in a national TV game versus a team like the Hurricanes. It will be a great way to start the season and helps FSU continue to be a program in the national spotlight."

Miami leads the all-time series 30-23, with Florida State winning a wild 41-39 affair last season at Dolphin Stadium.

Moving the game back to Week 1 has been expected for some time. The Hurricanes jostled their nonconference schedule around several weeks ago to free up the date, and Florida State also had to make some moves to accommodate the switch.

The Seminoles were supposed to open with Maine, not Miami.

Both coaches, Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Miami's Randy Shannon, have indicated in the past that if they had the choice, they would rather see their in-state ACC rival later in the year.

At the same time, both freely acknowledged that the notion of playing in prime time - almost certainly as the only major college game in the nation that night - is a lure too strong to ignore, especially as a selling-point to recruits.

Miami's early schedule shapes up as brutal.

After the Florida State opener, the Hurricanes return home against Georgia Tech — which cost Miami a trip to the ACC championship game last year with a 41-23 victory — in another prime time matchup on Thursday, Sept. 17, then visit Virginia Tech nine days later. Following that, a home game awaits against national runner-up Oklahoma.

The Seminoles figure to get a bit of a respite after Week 1, hosting Jacksonville State five days later.

But Florida State's season could end with maybe the biggest challenge of all: the Seminoles close the regular slate Nov. 28 at defending national champion Florida.

ACC Schedule

Thursday, Sept. 3
South Carolina at N.C. State, ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 5
Northeastern at Boston College
Middle Tennessee at Clemson
Richmond at Duke
Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech
Maryland at California
The Citadel at North Carolina
William & Mary at Virginia
Alabama vs. Va. Tech (Georgia Dome)
Baylor at Wake Forest

Monday, Sept. 7
Miami at Florida State, ESPN

Thursday, Sept. 10
Clemson at Georgia Tech , ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 12
Kent State at Boston College
Duke at Army
Jacksonville State at Florida State
James Madison at Maryland
North Carolina at Connecticut
Murray State at N.C. State
TCU at Virginia
Marshall at Virginia Tech
Stanford at Wake Forest

Thursday, Sept. 17
Georgia Tech at Miami, ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 19
Boston College at Clemson
Duke at Kansas
Florida State at BYU
Middle Tennessee at Maryland
East Carolina at North Carolina
Gardner-Webb at N.C. State
Virginia at Southern Miss
Nebraska at Virginia Tech
Elon at Wake Forest

Saturday, Sept. 26
Wake Forest at Boston College
Central Michigan at Clemson
North Carolina Central at Duke
South Florida at Florida State
North Carolina at Georgia Tech
Rutgers at Maryland
Miami at Virginia Tech
Pittsburgh at N.C. State

Saturday, Oct. 3
Florida State at Boston College
Clemson at Maryland
Virginia Tech at Duke
Georgia Tech at Mississippi State
Oklahoma at Miami
Virginia at North Carolina
N.C. State at Wake Forest

Saturday, Oct. 10
Boston College at Virginia Tech
Duke at N.C. State
Georgia Tech at Florida State
Maryland at Wake Forest
Florida A&M at Miami
Georgia Southern at North Carolina
Indiana at Virginia

Saturday, Oct. 17
N.C. State at Boston College
Wake Forest at Clemson
Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech
Virginia at Maryland
Miami at Central Florida

Thursday, Oct. 22
Florida State at North Carolina, ESPN

Saturday, Oct. 24
Boston College at Notre Dame
Clemson at Miami
Maryland at Duke
Georgia Tech at Virginia
Wake Forest at Navy

Thursday, Oct. 29
North Carolina at Virginia Tech, ESPN

Saturday, Oct. 31
Central Michigan at Boston College
Coastal Carolina at Clemson
Duke at Virginia
N.C. State at Florida State
Georgia Tech at Vanderbilt
Miami at Wake Forest

Thursday, November 5
Virginia Tech at East Carolina, ESPN

Saturday, November 7
Florida State at Clemson
Duke at North Carolina
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech
Maryland at N.C. State
Virginia at Miami

Saturday, November 14
Boston College at Virginia
Clemson at N.C. State
Georgia Tech at Duke
Florida State at Wake Forest
Virginia Tech at Maryland
Miami at North Carolina

Saturday, November 21
North Carolina at Boston College
Virginia at Clemson
Duke at Miami
Maryland at Florida State
N.C. State at Virginia Tech

Saturday, November 28
Boston College at Maryland
Clemson at South Carolina
Wake Forest at Duke
Florida State at Florida
Georgia at Georgia Tech
Miami at South Florida
North Carolina at N.C. State
Virginia Tech at Virginia

Saturday, Dec. 5
ACC Championship Game, Tampa, ABC

Information from Tribune archives was used in this report.

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