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The Southland Conference became yet another FCS league with provisions to air regular season games on ESPN linear platforms. The league announced its new media deal yesterday which stipulates ESPN air one regular season football game on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNU. Although they did not specify financial details, the new contract puts the Southland with the likes of the Big Sky and even Missouri Valley Football Conference in terms of exposure. The conference also received an interesting concession in the deal.
The Southland Conference will appear in the FCS Kickoff a minimum of twice over the next six seasons. Despite lackluster attendance, the FCS Kickoff is the closest thing to a bowl for many non-HBCU FCS schools. Since the game moved to Montgomery's Cramton Bowl in 2017, a current or former Southland Conference school has appeared in the game just twice. Current UAC member Central Arkansas appeared in 2020 and Stephen F. Austin traveled to Montgomery in Week Zero of 2022. The arrangement allows the possibility for several intriguing matchups involving the Southland over the next few years. Some of my favorites are below:
As of 2020, Alabama has an estimated 249,650 professing Catholics. Notre Dame has not played in the Yellowhammer State since 1986. Why not invite two of the FCS' most notable Catholic brands to one of the season's biggest stages? The FCS Kickoff has mostly featured regional matchups with little national appeal since moving to the Cramton Bowl. A game featuring a school with a reputation for high-flying offenses and one of the FCS' most consistent programs would rejuvenate the national appeal of the FCS Kickoff. Additionally, it is a rematch of a 2024 FCS Playoffs second round game that UIW won 13-6. Between the Catholic connection and the playoff rematch storyline, this would be one of the most intriguing FCS Kickoffs to date.
Conference realignment is notorious for killing rivalries. The Backyard Brawl (West Virginia-Pitt), the Border Showdown (Kansas-Missouri), and perhaps the most heartbreaking loss, the Red Beans and Rice Bowl. The United Athletic Conference's wild FBS ambitions separated Central Arkansas from McNeese State in 2021, meaning the school's rivalry effectively ended in 2019.
It is a shame because despite Central Arkansas and McNeese State having only 13 meetings ever, the Red Beans and Rice Trophy sets the game apart. Why not resurrect this rivalry for one year and generate local buzz around this peculiar, but loveable trophy? McNeese State has never appeared in the FCS Kickoff, and Central Arkansas' lone appearance came in 2020, with a 10% attendance capacity. The intrigue of this game and the proximity of its participants could make this a slam dunk for the FCS Kickoff.
Gardner-Webb is a manageable six-hour drive from Montgomery, Alabama and would be the first Big South school to appear in the FCS Kickoff in the Cramton Bowl-era (North Carolina A&T was a member of the MEAC when they appeared in 2018). Why Gardner-Webb-Stephen F. Austin you may ask? The game is a long-awaited bowl rematch.
In 1973, an 8-3 record earned Stephen F. Austin a trip to Gainesville, Georgia, population 15,459, to play 7-4 Gardner-Webb in the Poultry Bowl. A crowd of 1,000 fans saw Stephen F. Austin run for 469 yards, still good for the second-highest single-game program total, against the Runnin' Bulldogs in a 31-10 win. Quarterback Larry Mayer had a staggering 237 yards on 16 carries against a defense that featured 1973 First Team Kodak Little All-American linebacker Richard Grissom to lead the Lumberjacks to their only bowl win to date. The school's have not met since that game. Who says 51 years is too late for sequel? (Have you ever seen Grudge Match?)
The FCS Kickoff has several new matchups to choose from based on history and the institutional make up of the Southland's schools. One can only wonder what the Kickoff will do with those two contracted Southland Conference matchups.
