And yet, when No. 22 Penn State hosts Coastal Carolina today, it's just one example that Football Bowl Subdivision (nee Division I-A) teams are still willing to pay to play Championship Subdivision (Division I-AA) teams despite the risk of becoming the next national punch line.

And why not? FBS teams have won close to 90 percent of the time, and the premier programs are guaranteed a nice gate even after doling out close to half a million dollars to lure little guys to their gigantic stadiums.

But it's not as if the deal is one-sided. Coastal Carolina, for instance, will earn somewhere between $400,000 and $450,000, according to Penn State director of athletics Tim Curley. Temple will get $600,000 when it travels to Happy Valley on Sept. 20. Those teams will have the opportunity to measure themselves against a marquee squad. And they will gain some exposure from a televised game.

"The money helps pay for all our programs and not just football," Coastal Carolina athletic director Warren Koegel said. "And any leftover revenue goes into academic money."

And, of course, there's always the outside chance the Chanticleers will channel Appalachian State, which faces LSU today, and knock off the Nittany Lions. Last year, the Mountaineers scored one for David when it upset the Wolverines in Ann Arbor in the season opener.

And while it was by far the biggest shocker, it wasn't the only one. FCS teams went 10-70 against FBS teams last season. Since 2003 FBS teams own a 290-35 (.892) mark over FCS teams, though.

This year, 82 FBS teams will partake in a total of 87 games against FCS teams. Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Texas Tech and Western Kentucky each play two such games. Villanova, an FCS team, travels to West Virginia today.

In 2006, when the NCAA returned to a 12-game schedule, it allowed FBS teams to count wins over FCS teams towards their bowl-eligibility total. It used to be only every five years. Penn State played Youngstown State in 2006 and will play the Guins again in 2010. Eastern Illinois is on the schedule for next year.

For the Lions, who maintain they need seven home games to support their athletic department, it made sense to pair up with a FCS school that won't require a home-and-away series.

"It just opens up the number of available teams," Curley said. "It becomes difficult to match dates, locations and all of those things - and a lot of them are competitive."

More often than not, however, the quality of the games is substandard and the real losers are the season-ticket holders who are forced to fork over a tithe for what's essentially a scrimmage.

"If you look at our schedule overall we have a nice schedule," Curley said. "Secondly, if you look across the country, most of the I-A schools are playing I-AA teams. We think it's fine."

While the Joe Paterno ritual of pumping up a weak sister may go overboard at times, it is true that FCS schools are blurring the line between the two subdivisions. The limiting of scholarships from 95 to 85 in 1994 had a large impact on that.

"I don't think there's any question that it's the 85," Paterno said.

And it's allowed programs like Coastal Carolina to rise from nowhere in short periods of time. In just their first five years of existence, the Chanticleers have had one losing season - a 5-6 mark from a season ago as the team rebuilt.

Koegel, the starting center on Penn State's undefeated 1968 and '69 teams and a senior captain in 1970, has been there from the start. His friendship with Curley and former teammate Fran Ganter, who handles scheduling, led to the matchup.

His return to State College just so happens to coincide with the honoring of the '68 and '69 squads.

"I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time," said Koegel, who is also known as "Moose." "But on that Saturday I'll be wearing my teal and black. I won't be wearing my blue and white."