When you've got only four non-conference games to make the rent, you have to make them count. The way Sun Belt teams do this is by knocking on doors and asking larger, richer neighbors if they'd like pay them for the pleasure of punch them in the face. More often than not, larger teams are happy to pay for the privilege of doing that for three or four hours, paying a generous sum--sometimes just a whisker under seven figures--to book a home game's ticket sales and other bennies for a sure win. Think of them as college football's Begbies, willingly starting fights they likely can't win.
Some teams are ballsier about the amount of punishment they're willing to take, with an early leader being Florida International University's out of conference schedule. The Golden Panthers (it's third tier college football because you have to clarify which color of panther we're dealing with here) have Alabama, Florida, and Phil Steele's Big East favorite Rutgers on the beatings docket this year, with only Toledo offering something like a winnable game in their out of conference schedule.
They will be rewarded handsomely for the effort, but good God will they take a beating. Remember, though: FIU might not win the fight, but they sure as hell will start it.
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