At college football's lowest rung, games are matter of faith and creative financing

All games aren't equal:  The 2015 Faith Colleges Schedule show two SWAC programs under contract for the 2015 football season.

• Oct 3, 2015: Prairie View A&M host University of Faith at Waller, Texas, Waller ISD Stadium
• Oct. 31, 2015: Texas Southern host College of Faith at BBVA Compass Stadium  (Homecoming)

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida -- Earlier this fall, someone posted a question on reddit.com: Are there two fake schools operating on the periphery of college football? One was called the College of Faith, in Charlotte, N.C., and the other was called the University of Faith, here in St. Petersburg.

The websites looked hastily made. The teams were losing lopsided games. How could just-opened, online-only institutions be participating in intercollegiate athletics?

Sometimes it's hard to discern what's real when tethered to a computer.


Not quite a month later, though, on an evening in Lakeland, in front of a few thousand ticket buyers at Southeastern University's Victory Field, the host team called the Fire received the opening kickoff from its opponents from the University of Faith.

Up in the press box, rosters listed the names of 56 Faith players, and corresponding positions, heights, weights and hometowns, all but four in Florida, most of them around Tampa Bay. There were no class years.

Down on the new AstroTurf field, the Faith players wore gray uniforms with green helmets that said UFaith on the back and jerseys with "GLORY EAGLES" on the front.

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