ORANGE BOWL Florida State, Miami not thrilled to be selected for rematch

The Fiesta Bowl's choice of Ohio State impacted the Orange Bowl matchup.
MIAMI (AP) -- The Orange Bowl got a rematch. Just not the one anybody wanted.
The Bowl Championship Series on Sunday paired ninth-ranked Florida State and 10th-ranked Miami in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1 -- a rematch of a game played in October and a preview of the 2004 season opener for the instate rivals.
Neither the Seminoles, the Hurricanes or Orange Bowl representatives were particularly pleased with the matchup.
"I really don't want to play Florida State again as a rematch and then to open the season with them," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "I don't think that's particularly good for college football. I don't think that's really the way it was designed to happen. But that's what is happening and we've got to move forward."
Bowl strategy
The Orange Bowl selected Big East champion Miami (10-2) as its "anchor team" and hoped the Fiesta Bowl would take the Seminoles to avoid a rematch, leaving the Orange with Ohio State and setting up a rematch of last year's national championship game.
But Fiesta Bowl officials exercised a provision in BCS rules that gave them an "economic priority" pick ahead of the Orange Bowl and selected the Buckeyes, which basically stuck the Orange with Atlantic Coast Conference champion Florida State (10-2).
"We preached that for the whole BCS system that [Miami-Ohio State] would be better," Orange Bowl executive director Keith Tribble said.
The Orange Bowl made a similar move last year when it exercised the option and picked Big Ten runner-up Iowa, a selection that upset Rose Bowl officials who were left with Oklahoma. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, who coordinates the BCS, said the bowl selection committee considered the Orange Bowl's request to avoid a rematch but decided to honor the bowl selection order.
That left the Orange Bowl with Florida State-Miami, a rivalry played every year since 1969.
The Hurricanes have beaten the Seminoles four consecutive times, including a 22-14 victory in Tallahassee on Oct. 11.
With Miami moving to the ACC next season, the teams are scheduled to open the season with a Monday night game on Sept. 6, Labor Day, in Miami. That means the teams will play three times in less than 11 months.
Florida State athletic director Dave Hart said he was given assurances that because of the 2004 opener a rematch in a bowl game would not happen.
Coach Bobby Bowden said he probably would not have agreed to play Miami in the 2004 opener had he known he would face the same opponent to end the 2003 season.