Why Power Four Schools Are Playing FCS Teams More

Florida football will take on Campbell this Saturday … and it’ll pay the FCS school $500,000 to visit. 

Campbell is 2-0, and this will be the first time in the school’s history that it will take on an SEC opponent. 

A trend seems to be setting in across college football: Power Four giants are adding more and more FCS opponents to their schedules instead of tougher out-of-conference bouts. Teams are willing to pay anywhere from six to seven figures to play an FCS school for a tune-up. 

Both sides have positives and negatives. If a school plays a tougher out-of-conference opponent and wins, it’ll be more likely to jump up in the AP Poll. If it loses, it will be less likely to fall far in the rankings. 

However, if a school decides to pay an FCS team to play it, there are bigger downsides. If the team beats the FCS team, nothing will happen, minus maybe a slight jump in the rankings. If it loses to the FCS opponent, as far-fetched as that may be, it could spell a significant drop in the rankings, coach firings and a notable financial hit. 

So let’s take a look back on how the Gators have fared recently against FCS opponents. 

In the Gators’ last 11 games against FCS opponents, they’re 10-1. 

In 2025, the Gators dominated LIU in Week 1, beating it 55-0. In 2024, the Gators beat Samford 45-7. In 2023, the Gators defeated McNeese 49-7. In 2022, they beat Eastern Washington 52-17. In 2021, the Gators beat Samford 70-52. They took a year away from the FBS ranks during the COVID-19 season, but in 2019, they beat Townson and UT Martin. In 2018, they beat Idaho and Charleston Southern. In 2014, they beat Eastern Kentucky. Then, catch this, in 2013, the Gators lost 26-20 to Georgia Southern. The game was a back-and-forth one in which the Gators took multiple leads, but ultimately ended in a late-game collapse. 

What happened to that 2013 team after its loss to Georgia Southern? 

Less than a month later, the Gators moved on from both their offensive coordinator and their offensive line coach. The following season, they made more changes, including starting a new quarterback and moving on from head coach Will Muschamp. 

If the Gators end up with a loss to Campbell, more major changes could arrive soon, even two games into the Jon Sumrall era.

Category: College Football, Feature Sports News, Football, Gators Football