Florida International has decided to surrender in their battle against the 2K Sports Coaches vs Cancer Classic and humbly accept the complete whipping UNC is going to lay upon them in Chapel Hill on November 9th.
"We will honor our commitment to the tournament and the charity it will support," FIU Athletics Director Pete Garcia said in a news release.
Don't let the charity talk fool you. Robbi Pickeral points out this is about money and not money for cancer research. If FIU withdrew from the tournament, as they threatened to do, it would cost them three home games they are set to host following the opener. Losing home games in college athletics is akin to taking huge piles of cash and setting them ablaze like it was April 6th, 2009 on Franklin St. That would probably be coupled with some sort of nasty legal rebuke for breach of contract.
From UNC's side, it really does not matter as illustrated by Steve Kirshcner's response:
"We're glad the matter is resolved and look forward to the start of the season."
Translation: Meh...wake me up when we get to New York.
Of course for UNC fans still carrying around a vendetta over the loss to Indiana in the 1981 NCAA title game, this is a perfect setup. Current FIU coach and destroyer of the New York Knicks, CBA etc. Isiah Thomas lit the Heels up in the 2nd half of that game rallying the Hoosiers to the win. A severe beatdown might afford a small measure of revenge or at the very least make someone feel better.
If we can get the Tar Heel crowd to chant "REMEMBER AL WOOD!" at select points in the game that would be awesome.