FIU will play UNC in opener

In what comes as no huge surprise, Florida International has decided it will play North Carolina on Nov. 9 in the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament as previously scheduled, the school announced Tuesday.
 
“We will honor our commitment to the tournament and the charity it will support,” FIU Athletics Director Pete Garcia said in a news release.
 
The Golden Panthers raised a ruckus last week when the schedule was announced, saying they wanted to play Ohio State in the opening round of the event and were angered that the event's organizer, The Gazelle Group, had switched games. FIU got its legal department involved, and even threatened to pull out.
 
Such a decision would have been costly, though, considering that after its opener, FIU was set to host three home games in the tournament. The NCAA allows tourneys like this one to count four games as two in the overall “games-played” tally. The Gazelle Group gave FIU the option of playing in the tournament next year instead. But had it pulled out this year, it faced the prospect of losing revenue by only being able to play two games in place of the tournament – if it even could have found opponents.
 
“The biggest benefit to everyone involved, especially to The American Cancer Society, is having Coach [Isiah] Thomas, play North Carolina,’’ Garcia said.
 
FIU, which held a news conference Tuesday afternoon to announce its decision, signed the tournament contract -- which stated the Golden Panthers would play either OSU or UNC —before it hired Thomas as its new coach. Thomas said it will be an honor to play the defending national champions.
 
“It’s kind of fitting that my last game in college was against North Carolina, and my first game as [a college] coach will be against North Carolina,’’ Thomas said.
 
UNC spokesman Steve Kirschner said in an e-mail, "We're glad the matter is resolved and look forward to the start of the season."