(STATS) - Cinderella is allowed out more often than in the month of March. During college football season, FCS programs are adept at drawing national attention as they seek upsets of the larger FBS.
Many of the games are played during the first few weekends of the season. This year, there are 113 FCS vs. FBS matchups, and the FCS hopes to raise their nine combined wins from last season.
Big South Conference teams will be involved in seven of the matchups:
The Matchups - Charleston Southern: Florida State (Sept. 10); Gardner-Webb: Ohio (Sept. 24); Liberty: Virginia Tech (Sept 3) and SMU (Sept. 17); Monmouth: Kent State (Sept. 17); Presbyterian: Central Michigan (Sept. 1) and Florida (Nov. 19).
Glamour Game - Charleston Southern at Florida State. Coach Jamey Chadwell's impressive 28-10 record in three seasons at CSU looks even better without his five losses to FBS opponents. His team will try to establish the run against the Seminoles, who are expecting a banner season.
Upset Alert - Liberty at SMU. The Flames always like the chance to show off their talents at the FBS level they're still hoping to play on in the future. SMU lost to CAA Football member James Madison last season.
Notable - Florida State is playing defending Big South champion Charleston Southern just five days after opening up against Ole Miss on Labor Day, Sept. 5 … Gardner-Webb versus Ohio isn't quite a rivalry, but they will meet for the third time since 2006 … Liberty has beaten an FBS team in two straight seasons, albeit from the Sun Belt (Appalachian State in 2014 and Georgia State last season) … Monmouth's 31-10 loss at Central Michigan last year was its first matchup against an FBS program … Presbyterian's FCS-low enrollment of 1,200 is about 50,000 less than Florida.
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