Everyone in Alabama knows Jacksonville State has a rich football history in D2. As a kid, I remember the golden years of the Gulf South Conference with JSU, Troy State, Livingston and Florence State. Then, they had good success in FCS before moving to FBS in 2023. This year, they're having a good season, sitting undefeated in Conference USA play. I'm familiar with their upstart rival, Kennesaw State, having lived in Kennesaw for 28 years and having watched the school balloon to over 45,000 students. They didn't start a football program until 2015, and a few years into play they upset Jax State in the second round of the FCS playoffs at Burgess-Snow. KSU followed them into FBS last year and had a dismal inaugural 2-10 campaign that included a 63-24 beatdown by JSU. This year is a different story. After a narrow 10-9 loss in the opener to Wake, followed by a blowout loss to Indiana, KSU has reeled off five wins to lead Conference USA.
It's still a few weeks down the road, but KSU and JSU are both favored in their next games, potentially setting up a November 15th showdown that should determine the conference finishing order.
The rivalry is neat, because of my familiarity with both schools, but also because the schools have collaborated heavily over the years academically, filling that role of a secondary state school.
RTR,
Tim
It's still a few weeks down the road, but KSU and JSU are both favored in their next games, potentially setting up a November 15th showdown that should determine the conference finishing order.
The rivalry is neat, because of my familiarity with both schools, but also because the schools have collaborated heavily over the years academically, filling that role of a secondary state school.
RTR,
Tim
