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Dispatch:
OSU takes Washington State, Syracuse off schedule
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio State has three more holes in its football schedules after backing out of a game at Washington State and canceling a home-and-home series with Syracuse.
The Buckeyes were scheduled to travel to Washington in 2009 for a game either in Pullman or Seattle (the site never was finalized). That completed a home-and-home that began with the Cougars’ trip to Columbus in 2002.
But OSU decided to try and get another home game, instead.
The Buckeyes agreed to pay WSU $450,000 for backing out, said Cougars athletics director Jim Sterk. But OSU likely will make a several-million-dollar profit by turning that into a home game.
"It was strictly for economic reasons," said OSU associate athletics director Steve Snapp, who has taken over some of the football-scheduling duties.
Sterk said he was disappointed but not shocked.
"I thought at some point they might want to (cancel)," he said. "We had a healthy-sized penalty for them to get out. I thought it would make them hesitate. But I guess not."
Washington State plays home games in Martin Stadium, which is being expanded and will seat 42,000 by 2009. The other option was playing in Seattle’s Qwest Field, which seats 67,000.
Canceling the Syracuse series will not cost OSU, Snapp said. The Orangemen were to play in Columbus to open the 2007 season and the Buckeyes were headed to Syracuse in 2010.
OSU has two open dates in 2007.
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