Six Tiny FCS Teams Got Paid $2.15 Million To Beat Some Huge College Football Schools This Weekend
APNorth Dakota State celebrates against Kansas StateIt's that time of year when big-time college football programs pay little schools a lot of money to come in and be sacrificial lambs for the masses. But this year, some of these supposedly easy wins didn't go as planned.
The biggest loss of the weekend may have been by Oregon State, who paid Eastern Washington $450,000 to make the 400 mile trip to Corvallis, Oregon. The Beavers were ranked 25th in the polls and were playing their first game with their new logo and uniforms.
Oregon State lost the game, 49-46.
In all, there were six FCS (formerly division I-AA) schools that upset FBS schools and were paid at least $275,000 for the privilege. These six schools were paid a combined $2.15 million:
- Eastern Washington beat Oregon State 49-46. Oregon State paid E.Washington $450,000 (via OregonLive.com).
- McNeese State beat South Florida 53-21. USF paid McNeese State $400,000 (via TampaBay.com).
- North Dakota State beat Kansas State 24-21. Kansas State paid NDSU $350,000 (via USAToday.com).
- Northern Iowa beat Iowa State 28-20. Iowa State paid UNI $350,000 (via DesMoinesRegister.com).
- Eastern Illinois beat San Diego State 40-19. SDSU paid Eastern Illinois $325,000 (via UTSanDiego.com).
- Towson beat Connecticut 33-18. UConn paid Towson $275,000 (via CTNow.com).