Florida State could keep bowl streak alive with UL-Monroe game back on schedule

Sam Cooper
·College football writer
Florida State will host UL-Monroe at Doak Campbell Stadium on Dec. 2. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Florida State will host UL-Monroe at Doak Campbell Stadium on Dec. 2. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Let the countdown begin.

Florida State announced Tuesday that its game against UL Monroe, which was originally scheduled for Sept. 9 but was one of several games canceled or postponed because of Hurricane Irma, has been rescheduled. As FSU AD Stan Wilcox indicated last week, the Seminoles and Warhawks will meet Dec. 2 in Tallahassee at noon. Television arrangements for the game have yet to be determined.

Bowl eligibility could be on the line for both teams.

FSU improved to 3-5 on the year with a home win over Syracuse on Saturday. Now with the ULM game back on the schedule, the Seminoles have four games (Clemson, Delaware State, Florida and ULM), instead of three, to reach the six-win mark and continue its bowl streak that dates back to 1976.

“I appreciate the efforts of our administration as well as the administration and Coach (Matt) Viator at ULM to get this game rescheduled,” FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher said. “It was unfortunate for both teams that we were not able to play this game in September, and both teams deserve the chance to play their 12th game of the season. Any time we have the opportunity to play in Doak Campbell Stadium in front of our fans we are excited. However, this week our complete focus is on Clemson.”

ULM improved to 4-5 with a win over Appalachian State over the weekend. The Warhawks have a bye this week before traveling to Auburn on Nov. 18. ULM will then finish out its Sun Belt slate at home against Arkansas State on Nov. 25 before making the trip to FSU on Dec. 2.

The rescheduling of the game is a financial win for ULM, which likely lost the $1.35 million payment it was slated to receive to play FSU after the cancellation.

From KTBS (in September):

ULM was set to be paid $1.35 million to play in the contest. According to the contract, the team would pay the other $1 million if the game was canceled.

However, section 11 of the contract states “in the event of fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake…making it impractical or impossible to play the game, both parties shall be relieved of any and all obligations of this agreement.”

The Dec. 2 game will be played on the same day Power Five conference championship (and a handful of Sun Belt) games are played. The ACC title game, which FSU has played in five times, will be played that night.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!