BCU Wyatt wants to tangle with Florida Gators

By SEAN KERNAN, Daytona Beach News Journal

It's time for Bethune-Cookman's football program to think big.

That's big as in playing one of the big boys of NCAA Division I-A football.

Imagine if today was the day before Bethune-Cookman took on the defending national champion Florida Gators in Gainesville. Wouldn't there be a buzz about town as kickoff drew near?

Instead, the Wildcats will be in Savannah, Ga., Saturday suiting up to play the No. 241-ranked Tigers. Those meowing Tigers would be dead last in the Sagarin ratings if not for No. 242-ranked La Salle.

Of course, if B-CU got to play an opponent such as the Gators, not even the most ardent Wildcat fan would expect B-CU to win let alone put up much of a fight. But just the fact the Wildcats would get a chance to be on the same field as the Gators would create some excitement. Even B-CU coach Alvin Wyatt gets goose bumps thinking about that.

"I'd love the opportunity to play the Gators. They gave it to FAMU (in 2003)," Wyatt said. "I just love Florida, period. That's my second love -- the University of Florida. They have a huge fan in me. Go Gators!"

Wyatt, who isn't as keen about playing say FSU or Miami, also believes B-CU's fans would like to see the 'Cats mix it up with the Gators.

"You know, I think our fans would love that," Wyatt says. "It wouldn't matter what the score was and I think our kids would try to make that leap to the next level to try to compete with them."

OTHERS DO IT

South Carolina State, the team that beat B-CU last week, opened the season with a road game at Air Force and Saturday travels to nearby Columbia, S.C., to take on Steve Spurrier's Gamecocks. This is the first year the Bulldogs have taken on a I-A opponent under Buddy Pough and the fifth-year head coach recently wondered aloud what took him so long.

MEAC members Norfolk State and Delaware State play at No. 13 Rutgers and Kent State, respectively, on Saturday. Former B-CU assistant coach Pete Adrian made it a priority to get a I-A opponent on the Spartans' slate when he first was hired. What he didn't expect was to be facing a nationally ranked team and Heisman candidate (Ray Rice). But that's the way the ball bounces.

So if a MEAC power like S.C. State, an up-and-coming Delaware State and a bottom-tier MEAC program like Norfolk State can find the right I-A match-ups, why can't B-CU?

QUICK CASH

Teams take on I-A opponents for several reasons, but No. 1 is the money. The quick cash in many of these deals allows a profit of more than $200,000. And with B-CU still $2.5 million shy of pledges for its football training center, those big checks could speed up that process for something the football program badly needs to aid recruiting.

Reasons high on the list not to play I-A opponents are the possibility of injuries from playing against players who are bigger, stronger and faster, and the effects of a lopsided loss on the team's morale and the coach's record. The reality is players get hurt in practice and every program has its price. If the paycheck is big enough, most I-AA coaches and athletic directors will take one for the team.

So B-CU, enough with teams like Savannah State, Elizabeth City and Johnson C. Smith. Victories against such teams are hollow. They don't do anything for what should be B-CU's goals -- winning the MEAC and advancing in the playoffs formerly known as I-AA. (In 2000, the Wildcats went 9-2 but were left out of the playoffs because of a weak non-conference slate that included Savannah State, Johnson C. Smith and Morris Brown).

What the Wildcats need is an upgrade of competition in non-conference games -- play stronger I-AA opponents like Hampton does or take on a I-A school like three MEAC teams are doing Saturday.