With top-ranked and defending national champion Florida opening against (and writing a big check to) Charleston Southern on Saturday, I can’t think of a better time to look into the future and wonder about what kind of disgraceful “cash for clunker games” we might see in the next few years.
Make no mistake, the Gators aren’t the only ones renting a victim this weekend. Four other ranked teams -- No. 15 Georgia Tech (Jacksonville State), No. 21 North Carolina (Citadel), No. 22 Iowa (Northern Iowa) and No. 25 Kansas (Northern Colorado) -- are also charging full price for a glorified scrimmage.
Of course, some FCS teams can actually defend themselves quite well, so the New Mexico State’s of the world (you know, programs that ask fans to donate snacks to the squad), which need the easiest fodder, might want to keep an eye on unborn programs set to hatch in a few years.
CFT is here to help.
Following in the footsteps of one-year-old Campbell and Old Dominion, which is back playing football this year for the first time since 1940, there will be five new teams joining the FCS ranks within the next four years.
Next season, Georgia State will compete in the Colonial Athletic Association and Lamar will play in the Southland Conference. The University of Texas at San Antonio will join Lamar in the Southland in 2011. South Alabama will fend for itself as an independent when it starts up in 2012. And finally, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte isn’t quite sure yet which league it’ll latch on to in 2013.
Is that Bill Snyder I hear picking up the phone?
