B-CU eyes big time, to play Miami in 2011, 2012; UCF in 2013

DAYTONA BEACH, FL -- Bethune-Cookman University's Wildcats have never scheduled one of college football's top-tier teams, and now that they're starting, they're not exactly dipping their toes in the water.

Athletics Director Lynn Thompson confirmed Monday the Wildcats will play the University of Miami -- one of the nation's most storied football programs -- in 2011 and 2012 and renew an old rivalry against another Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team, the University of Central Florida, in 2013.

"If you're going to swim with fish in the open ocean, you might as well swim with whales," Thompson said. "When we started looking at guarantee games, our intent was to get the best opponent we could play." They'll also haul in a whale of a payout.

Thompson said the three games will generate "well over a million dollars" for the university. Thompson confirmed the 'Cats received the going rate from the Hurricanes. Florida Championship Subdivision schools like B-CU have been receiving about $400,000 to $500,000 from Bowl Championship Series schools in recent years. Delaware State, another MEAC school, collected $550,000 to play at Michigan last season.

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