Florida State Football: How West Virginia Cancelling Hurts Seminoles BCS Hopes

It is now confirmed that West Virginia has cancelled their meeting with FSU in Tallahassee on September 8th. The Mountaineers seem to be intent on leaving the Big East immediately, defying the courts and hurting the Seminoles in the process.

It is certainly a shame for the fans who were expecting an amazing game between two great teams. West Virginia has just come off a 70-33 thrashing of Clemson, while the 'Noles got a thrilling win against their storied rivals Notre Dame.

WVU has the high-powered offense; FSU has the stone-wall defense.

The game was going to be good.

But alas, in the turmoil of conference realignment, the Mountaineers have decided to not keep up with a commitment and back out.

If anyone comes out of this with a sour deal, it is the Seminoles.

Some would point out last year's Oklahoma game as the reason not to schedule a tough opponent early. If the 'Noles somehow lost, it would ruin the season.

Those same people, however, are the ones who say it will be very disappointing if FSU doesn't make a BCS bowl. My question is this: How can they make a great bowl if they don't play great teams?

In such a weak conference like the ACC, Florida State needs to make sure they play strong teams out of conference. While they may lose some, they win some, too.

No FSU fan will deny that they are stronger this next year than last year. We should have trust in our team to win the important games (as a side note, I'll also put in my two cents that West Virginia is probably not as good as Oklahoma).If nothing else, this year's BCS bowl has shown us that conference championships don't matter. Four of the BCS teams didn't win their own conference; two didn't even win their own division. If they don't matter for the losers, they probably don't matter for the winners.

While I certainly believe that the Seminoles will win the ACC championship, I am not sure what the voters will be thinking. If FSU can't schedule somebody equal to or better than West Virginia, BCS and national championship hopes are harder to achieve.

What happens if they slip up against someone? When facing Virginia Tech, that could certainly happen. That blemish on their record could make or break FSU.

One thing that all FSU fans can sadly agree upon is that due to the Seminoles' weaker opponents, they struggle versus some tougher opponents.

Of course, this isn't always the case, but FSU fans are all too aware of it.

That West Virginia game could have given this team the toughness they need. If they had faced good opponents, it would only help them in the long run against other teams.

If the 'Noles can't schedule another sizable opponent in time, I'm sorry to say, but their national championship hopes are done. While the Orange Bowl is a great accomplishment, Seminoles fans are still hungry for another national championship ring. That third ring doesn't look likely next year, though.

I guess the Mountaineers just didn't want Geno Smith to get crushed by the FSU defense.