The Atlantic Coast Conference released the 2018 football schedules for Florida State and other league members on Wednesday, and like every year, there is some to like and some to not like about the Seminoles' slate.
In this edition of the Warchant Roundtable, our trio of panelists -- Warchant publisher Gene Williams, managing editor Ira Schoffel and senior writer Corey Clark -- discuss the highs, lows and everything in between.
1. This is the third year in a row that Florida State will open with a major opponent. Is this a good move, or would you like to see FSU start off with a softer schedule?
GENE: I like it, the fans like it, it’s good for ticket sales, and it gets the players focused during summer workouts and in preseason practices. Of course, we saw the downside of opening with a juggernaut like Alabama last season. But overall, the positives generally outweigh the negatives when you open against quality opponents like Virginia Tech and Ole Miss. So keep it up, but maybe keep the national champs off the opening slate.
IRA: Despite what happened against Alabama -- losing the game AND your starting quarterback -- there are a lot of positives to doing this. The games are fun for the fans, they provide great exposure for the university, and when you’re getting a check for $5 million like FSU did for the Alabama game, they go a long way to paying the bills.
Of course, this season opener won’t come with a sweet payday; it’s just something FSU has to do as part of the ACC’s contract with ESPN. So this won’t be as ideal as others, but there’s still plenty to gain -- especially with this being Willie Taggart’s debut in Tallahassee. There will be tons of buzz around this game, and if the ‘Noles win it, it will be a great springboard for Taggart’s tenure. A poor performance would hurt, but not dramatically.
What will be interesting to watch going forward is seeing Taggart’s vision for scheduling and what impact he will have in FSU’s future decisions.
COREY: Normally, I'm always in favor of a fun non-conference game to open the season, and Florida State should never be afraid to play good opponents to start the year. In theory, it should be the other way around -- good opponents should NOT want to schedule FSU to open the season. That said, this one is different to me because it's a conference game. Against a good -- not great -- opponent. I don't think there's any real benefit to that. If you're not going to schedule a marquee non-conference game to open the season, then schedule a cupcake. Get a W. Get players feeling good about themselves. And then get on with the season.
I know FSU probably didn't have much choice in this one, but it's not ideal for a new coach, in his first game, to have to start with a real opponent like Virginia Tech. I feel like Samford in Week 1 and Virginia Tech in Week 2 would have been a better order for the Seminoles. But ESPN wants a prime-time game on Monday night. And what ESPN wants, ESPN gets.
