FIU Upset Over Having to Play UNC

Florida International has not played a game yet under new coach Isiah Thomas, but the program is acting like it is already a player in college basketball. They are threatening to pull out of the 2K Sports Classic Tournament, which benefits the Coaches vs. Cancer charity, because they are no longer slated to be the road patsy for Ohio State. Instead they are getting sent to Chapel Hill to face North Carolina.

The Golden Panthers had agreed to play in the preseason tournament even before Isiah Thomas was hired as the head coach. It had been presumed that they would go to Columbus to play the Buckeyes. Ohio State had indicated on its Web site that FIU would be the opponent. FIU and Thomas referenced starting the season there.

Last week, though, the Gazelle Group which operates the tournament contacted FIU about being switched. FIU's athletic director Pete Garcia refused, but he really did not have a choice. The contract FIU signed stated that FIU would play either North Carolina or Ohio state at the sole discretion of the Gazelle Group. Somehow that does not seem fair to FIU.

"Would they do what they're doing to us to Duke, or to North Carolina? No," Garcia said. "But they'll do it to FIU and any other school out there like FIU."

Hello? You are the patsy school that has to go on the road in this tournament, and expected to lose to the bigger program. You get some nice national exposure on ESPN and a check for the beating -- something nearly "any other school out there like FIU" would love to get. You are FIU. You are one of the worst programs in the country. Most people cannot keep you straight with Florida Atlantic. Of course they would treat you this way and not like a prestigious, brand-name program.

There is no principle to this. They signed a contract that is clear. Maybe they were hoping for a lighter beating from Ohio State rather than North Carolina, but that is not principle. That is whining. Clearly FIU's athletic director (and probably the coach) does not understand that a glamor hire does not elevate FIU beyond novelty act until they actually win something.