Left photo: Jeff Griffith/US Presswire
Lost Lettermen is counting down and ranking all 124 FBS college football teams from best to worst by comparing each to a well-known song. We will examine one team per day through the summer in the lead up to the 2012 season. Today’s team: The FIU Golden Panthers.
Overview:
2011 Record: 8-5
Head Coach: Mario Cristobal
Returning Starters: 17 (7 offense, 10 defense)
Key Players: RB Kedrick Rhodes, DE Greg Hickman
Schedule:
9/1: @ Duke
9/8: vs. Akron
9/15: @ UCF
9/22: vs. Louisville
9/29: @ Louisiana-Lafayette
10/4: vs. Arkansas St.
10/13: vs. Middle Tennessee
10/20: @ Troy
10/27: vs. Western Kentucky
11/3: @ South Alabama
11/16: @ Florida Atlantic
11/24: vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Skinny:
By Mark Burns
In 2006, Florida International ha an 0-12 record and basically hit rock bottom of the FBS. Yet, fast forward the clock to 2012 and head coach Mario Cristobal has turned around what was once an automatic win on anyone’s schedule to a mid-major contender. Since Cristobal’s takeover of the Golden Panthers, he’s been pursued by both Pittsburgh and Rutgers for their past head coaching vacancies, but the 41-year-old Cristobal has opted to remain in Miami. Last season, the Golden Panthers had eight wins, the best win total in Cristobal’s five years. For the upcoming campaign, FIU will have to function without arguably the program’s most memorable play-maker in wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, who snagged 16 touchdowns in 2011 and took another four to the house off returns. However, with Hilton being the only real loss on both sides of the ball, Cristobal and the Golden Panthers will see continued success this fall.
The schedule shapes up nicely for the Golden Panthers to reach bowl eligibility once again and, perhaps, improve on last year’s eight wins. If running back Kedrick Rhodes can shoulder a bigger load after Hilton’s loss and the defense can improve with 10 returning starters and much of its backups as well, the Golden Panthers could have a season to remember. After taking the squad from the laughingstock of the FBS to winning records in both 2010 and 2011, we’re reminded of Will Smith’s song ‘Miami’. Let’s face it: the last few years in Miami for FIU has been a party compared to its days of being irrelevant.
FBS 124 Countdown
#124: UTSA is … Rebecca Black’s “Friday”
#123: UMass is … Clay Aiken’s “Invisible”
#122: South Alabama is … Rednex’s “Cotton Eye Joe”
#121: Texas State is … Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out?”
#120: New Mexico is … Double Take’s “Hot Problems”
#119: Florida Atlantic is … Rammstein’s “Du Hast”
#118: Memphis is … Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog”
#117: Akron is … LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”
#116: UNLV is … Wayne Newton’s “Remember When”
#115: UAB is … Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”
#114: MTSU is … Jessica Mauboy’s “What Happened to Us?”
#113: Tulane is … The Game’s “My Life”
#112: Idaho is … Billy Ray Cyrus’ “Achy Breaky Heart”
#111: Buffalo is … Bruno Mars’ “Don’t Give Up”
#110: UL Monroe is … Bubba Sparxxx’s “Ugly”
#109: Rice is … Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor”
#108: Central Michigan is … Kid Rock’s “Only God Knows Why”
#107: Colorado State is … Aaliyah’s “Try Again”
#106: Miami (OH) … is Nick Lachey’s “What’s Left of Me”
#105: New Mexico State is … Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”
#104: Fresno St. is … Chumbawamba’s “Tubthumping”
#103: Indiana is … John Mellencamp’s “American Fool”
#102: Troy is … Ruben Studdard’s “Flying Without Wings”
#101: Army is … Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”
#100: San Jose State is … The Mamas & The Papas “California Dreamin”
#99: North Texas is … Kanye West’s “New Day”
#98: UTEP is … Goo Goo Dolls’ ‘Better Days’
#97: Ball State is … Katy Perry’s “Hot N Cold”
#96: Duke is … The Fugees’ ‘Killing Me Softly’
#95: Eastern Michigan is … Britney Spears’ “Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman”
#94: Boston College is … Aerosmith’s “Dream On”
#93: Maryland is … Evanescence’s ‘Wake Me Up Inside’
#92: Kansas is … Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Charlie’
#91: Oregon State is … Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin”
#90: Ole Miss is … Waka Flocka’s “Grove St. Party”
#89: Syracuse is … Bon Iver’s “Blindsided”
#88: Colorado is … Justin Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River”
#87: SDSU is … Notorious B.I.G.’s ‘Going Back to Cali’
#86: Kent St. is … ‘Boys Are Back in Town’
#85: Texas Tech is … Puff Daddy’s ‘I’ll Be Missing You’
#84: Navy is … Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”
#83: Hawaii is … The Beach Boys’ ‘Kokomo’
#82: Washington St. is … Rick Ross’ ‘The Boss’
#81: East Carolina is … Guns ‘N Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle”
#80: Minnesota is … Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s Get It Started”
