re: Can we petition to replace the Duke kickoff game with UCF?

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replace the Duke kickoff game

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Sure.

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with UCF?

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No.

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Plus, we owe Duke one. They canceled a game to make room for a us a few years ago. We had to travel to them, but they still helped us out.

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Not true. We don't owe Duke anything. The 2010 game at Duke was the second of a home-and-home contract; Duke came to Tuscaloosa in 2006. In fact, Duke turned down an opportunity to sell the game to a neutral site and make more money.

"The home team had an option to move the game to a larger, neutral site but chose instead to keep the game in the cozy on-campus stadium. That left a potentially more lucrative plan on the table because NFL stadiums in Atlanta and Charlotte could have accommodated much larger crowds in the return game of a home-and-home series. Alabama won the first meeting 30-14 in 2006.

“I think there’s always temptation when you’re talking about a great deal of money, but this thing is bigger than money,” Cutcliffe said. “I was amazed that (athletics director) Dr. (Kevin) White and (president) Dr. (Richard) Broadhead both just never flinched. They want what’s best for our program, and the best thing for our program is to play the big games at our stadium. A lot of things have changed here.”

Back in the 1990s, Duke traded the rights to host ACC opponent Florida State to Jacksonville and Orlando for cash effectively selling home games back to the already-superior home team."

LINK