The chance to play LSU this Saturday night in one of college football’s most storied venues is nice, but Jacksonville State athletics director Greg Seitz can think of about several hundred thousand other reasons he’s had the date circled on his calendar for some time.
As in the $600,000 the Gamecocks will take home for coming to Baton Rouge to play the expected role of the college football version of the sacrificial lamb. It doesn’t help that LSU is still smarting from last weekend’s season-opening loss to Wisconsin.
Money talks everywhere, but especially so in the considerably smaller world of the Football Championship Subdivision.
Say hello to college football’s Cupcake Weekend, when financial necessity trumps everything else.
“Obviously the chance to play in Death Valley is great,” Seitz said, “but the money is very critical to the operation of our budget.”
The game is one of several around the conference this weekend featuring high-fallutin’ SEC schools against smaller programs, including several FCS teams like Jacksonville State.
Others such games this weekend include Nicholls State at Georgia, Wofford at Ole Miss and Prairie View at Texas A&M. Joining them as the prohibitive underdogs against SEC competition this weekend will also be three other smaller major college programs. Arkansas State, the winners of four of the last five Sun Belt Conference championships, plays at Auburn, while Conference USA teams Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State travel to Alabama and Vanderbilt, respectively.
Jacksonville State has proven the stage isn’t too big for its team in previous games against the SEC, having beaten Ole Miss 49-48 in double overtime in 2010 before falling to Auburn in overtime last season. The Gamecocks (1-0) are ranked fifth in this week’s FBC Coaches Poll.
It means that Jacksonville State is becoming a team that few Football Bowl Subdivision teams want to face. That might hold true for LSU as well, given the Tigers’ extensive offensive struggles in the loss to the Badgers last weekend.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” Seitz said, “but the more success you have, the harder it is to get FBS opponents to schedule games.”
Nicholls State doesn’t figure to have the same kind of luck, but the Colonels can take solace in the $525,000 they’ll take home for what figures to be a glorified scrimmage against the Dawgs at Sanford Stadium. The payout figure is typical for games against similar type opponents, UGA athletics director Greg McGarity said.
Likewise, Wofford ($400,000) and Prairie View A&M ($450,000 and 400 complimentary tickets) will also see their coffers filled after playing at Ole Miss and Texas A&M, respectively.
Arkansas State and Western Kentucky figure to be content no matter the outcome of their games, given that two schools will each take home $1.3 million from respective games at Auburn and Alabama.
Vanderbilt officials declined to say how much Middle Tennessee State would receive for coming to Nashville, but their matchup is the second of a four-year home-and-home series between the schools, according to Blue Raiders athletics director Chris Massaro.
Here’s a look at this weekend’s payouts to non-SEC opponents.
School Name Host Opponent Payout
Nicholls State Georgia $525,000
Wofford Ole Miss $400,000
Prairie View A&M Texas A&M $450,000*
Western Kentucky Alabama $1.3 million
Arkansas State Auburn $1.3 million
Jacksonville State LSU $600,000
*Also received 400 complimentary tickets
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
