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Bethune-Cookman has wasted opportunities; Florida A&M's season just seems like a waste. But no matter how much the Wildcats and Rattlers are hurting, a victory in Saturday's 25th Florida Classic at the Florida Citrus Bowl would be enough to make it (almost) all better.
The pain is fresher for B-CC (5-4), which was in the running for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title until losing to Hampton 10 days ago. After a surprising, lackluster 10-7 loss to mediocre Howard on Saturday, the Wildcats have no chance of earning a third straight berth in the I-AA playoffs.
But they could do something no B-CC team has done: beat the Rattlers three seasons in a row. The Wildcats had a chance to complete a threepeat in 1975 and 1981 but lost both.
FAMU (3-6), which ensured its first losing season since 1993 with a home loss Oct.30 to Florida Atlantic, has had nearly three weeks to stew about it. The Rattlers were stuck with a brutal schedule thanks to an aborted attempt to move up to Division I-A and have endured blowout losses to I-A teams Illinois, Tulane and Virginia Tech.
In a sense, FAMU's entire season has revolved around the Florida Classic. Even as the losses piled up, the Rattlers knew there was one game to look forward to.
"We'll be ready to play against B-CC," quarterback Ben Dougherty told the Tallahassee Democrat after the loss to FAU. "I guarantee that."
HAYNES' WORLD: Central Florida is on the verge of its first winless season since 1982 and second in school history. The Golden Knights are ranked No.117, last in I-A, in total offense. On Saturday they lost 21-7 to Ball State (2-8), ranked No.107.
One bright spot has been the steady play of senior running back Alex Haynes . Despite the fact that UCF has had three coaches in 13 months (fired Mike Kruczek , interim Alan Gooch and now George O'Leary ) and that he is surrounded by freshmen and sophomores, Haynes has had a solid season. Saturday he became the Golden Knights' all-time leading rusher.
He needed 17 yards against Ball State but gained 140 for his 15th career 100-yard rushing game. Haynes of Orlando passed Willie English (3,131 yards) and has 3,255 in his four seasons.
Haynes and the Golden Knights will have a few extra days to prepare for Tuesday's finale against Kent State.
HEADING SOUTH: Florida Atlantic and Florida International play games Saturday that were scheduled for Sept.25 but postponed because of Hurricane Jeanne. At this point, both would love to turn the clock back to when hurricanes were their biggest problem.
Once the storms ended, the real trouble began. FAU (6-3) started 5-0, all road victories, but has lost three of four. FIU started 2-1 but has lost four straight.
FAU's implosion is a surprise, considering the Owls started the season with an overtime upset at Hawaii. Thanks to injuries on the offensive line and suspension of key players for team rules violations, the past two weeks FAU has been outscored 59-13 by Troy and New Mexico State.
Set to join the Sun Belt League and Division I-A next season, the Owls had hoped to win the "mythical Sun Belt championship," coach Howard Schnellenberger said, by beating all five of this season's opponents from the conference. They beat two.
More problematic has been the team's attendance in its two home games, both losses. The NCAA requires teams to average 15,000 before joining I-A; FAU has drawn 12,557 and 11,628.
FIU, meanwhile, has repeatedly blown leads. The Golden Panthers did it again Saturday, leading I-AA No.6 Georgia Southern 25-17 at halftime before losing 53-32.
Like FAU, the Golden Panthers are scheduled to move to the Sun Belt. But they have averaged 8,785 over three games.