Organized Chaos

Well, make that two releases from Florida State in the span of minutes on Friday.

The latest involves the NCAA”s eligibility ruling on Oklahoma linebacker Mike Balogun. The long and short of the story is FSU overheard a story during the BCS talking about how Balogun, who is 25, played semi-pro football. FSU had a similar case that involved Corey Surrency and the school was doing everything it could to get the wide receiver an extra year of eligibility.

The NCAA ultimately denied the extra year, citing rules that prohibit playing for any type of semi-pro team after the age of 21. If you do you lose a year of eligibility in college for every season you played on that level.

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Geno Hayes famously, or infamously depending on how you look at it, said that Tim Tebow was “going down” prior to a Florida-Florida State football game.

On that occasion, Tebow turned his ire into beating the team. Hayes’ recent run-in with an angry person led to a visit to the hospital.

The Tampa Tribune reported Monday that Hayes was stabbed in the head and neck by his girlfriend. He received a superficial wound from a pair of scissors and when he wrestled them away he was stabbed in the neck with a knife. This occurred early Saturday morning.

In all seriousness, it’s good that Hayes was treated and released. Domestic disputes can get scary. His girlfriend, 19-year-old Shevelle Bagley, was charged with aggravated battery and assault.

Hayes, 21, is now a linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

FSU is pushing hard to overturn the ruling about vacating games. This is all about Bobby Bowden’s legacy, and the school should do everything in its power to protect that.

Similar challenges have been upheld, so FSU stands a good chance. If the appeal is not accepted then this could be good news for those FSU fans who want a fresh start. And believe me, I’ve heard many of them.

If Bowden is indeed up to 15 wins away from Joe Paterno for the all-time major college record then you can expect to see Jimbo Fisher as the head coach as early as 2010. Most believe the record is the only thing keeping Bowden around, though some of the reason is to get back to winning ways and put the program back on the right track.

On the whole, these penalties were a good message sent by the NCAA. Academic cheating should not be tolerated, and while it does go on everywhere, the fact is FSU was caught.

Many thought the NCAA would accept FSU’s recommendations since the school self-reported. The NCAA did not, which will make other institutions less likely to tattle on itself.
In the end this will be good if the problem goes away. If for some reason it doesn’t then there needs to be wholesale changes in the administration.

It’s amazing to me that most of these athletes remained in school despite the cheating. I knew in college that cheating was really bad and if you did it then you got booted. These student-athletes should send thank-you cards to FSU for not doing the same.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions will release its report on Friday at 2 p.m. CST regarding possible sanctions for Florida State University for the 2006-07 academic cheating scandal that was brought to the surface in 08 by an internal investigation.

The report will be made public. Members of the the Committee on Infractions also will address the media to discuss the findings.

FSU self-reported its violations and gave recommendations for its punishment. The investigation has taken more than five months and the school and the public has been anxiously awaiting the news.

Check back later for more on this story.

Greg Reid of Lowndes County, Ga., announced on Tuesday that he will sign with Florida State on National Signing Day. The cornerback is rated in the Top 10 at his position by most recruiting agencies and was the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Georgia state player of the year. He chose FSU over Georgia and Alabama.

This is a great pick up for FSU and it fills an immediate need at corner if Reid can step in and play early. Top corner Tony Carter is gone and the Seminoles had been expected to sign four defensive backs, but all played safety in high school, including Willie Downs who might be able to slide to corner.

Reid was committed to Florida until a month ago. He thought he had rushed his decision and decided to open up his recruiting. Florida coach Urban Meyer wasn’t happy, as Reid told several publications that Meyer spoke to him in a “stern tone” to voice his displeasure.

Reid also considered Auburn and Miami. He took Florida off the table a few days ago.

Florida State wide receiver Preston Parker was arrested and jailed on DUI charges on Saturday. He was found passed out in his car and urine tests are presumed to be positive for marijuana.

This is bad news for Parker, who was suspended for the first two games of last season due to a gun and drug possession charge. From what I understand, he was undergoing regular drug tests and is apparently still engaging in the ganja.

He was placed on 12 months probation in May. This latest charge could carry as much as six months in jail. I’d also assume he could serve his probation time in jail if so desired by a judge, but I’m not certain.

If I had to guess, he’ll serve about six months. If he gets out of this it will be amazing.

By the way, FSU sports information said they would not be making a comment on Saturday.

Follow the jump to read my updated thoughts. You also can read my story here.

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Florida State defensive lineman Everette Brown has decided to forego his senior season and enter the NFL Draft, it was announced on Wednesday.

Brown was one of the best linemen in the country and figures to be a high draft pick, possibly a first-rounder, which has been rare for the Seminoles in recent years. He led the Seminoles with 13.5 sacks and was sixth on the team with 36 tackles.

I’m working up a story on this and I will update this later. You can read the story here.

Update, Jan. 7, 8:24 p.m. —-

This isn’t a surprise at all and you know there were few people in the Seminoles’ athletic department holding out hope he’d have a change of heart.

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Florida State and USF will play a home-and-home football series starting in 2009, the school announced on Wednesday.

The programs will meet for the first time on Sept. 26, 2009 in Tallahassee. The return meeting will be in Tampa on Sept. 29, 2012.

This completes FSU’s 2009 home schedule. The Seminoles also host Miami, N.C. State, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Maine. It will be the first time since 1995 that FSU will play three teams from the state.

“We are pleased to have added USF to our football schedule,” Florida State Athletic Director Randy Spetman said. “Anytime you can play a quality in-state opponent, everybody wins because it generates excitement for fans of both schools throughout the state. Having had a successful conclusion to our 2008 football campaign, we look forward to even greater things in 2009.”

FSU also announced that season tickets for 2009 are on sale now. The cost for the package is $266 and this is the first time that fans may extend the payment of the season tickets over as many as seven months. For more information, visit seminoles.com or call 1-888-FSU-NOLE.