An FCS program is lobbying for a chance to play in a bowl game

Ongoing COVID issues has caused the cancellation of a few bowl games already, and Rutgers was recently able to step in as a replacement for Texas A&M to play Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl.

Over the weekend, Miami had to pull out of their Sun Bowl matchup with Washington State due to COVID issues, leaving the Coogs scrambling to find a replacement opponent.

Jake Dickert and his squad pulled into El Paso on Sunday and found out the news, which prompted Dickert to take to social media to piggy back off WSU's official statement, adding that they're willing to play anyone.

Knowing full well how difficult it may be for Wazzu to find a willing opponent, an FCS team is shooting their shot to get in on the bowl action.

Colby Carthel, who led Stephen F. Austin (FCS) to an 8-win season this past fall, fired off a series of replies following Dickert's "we're willing to play anyone" tweet stating that he'd have his guys ready to go.

Stephen F. Austin is located across the state in Nacogdoches, about a 12 hour trip from the campus of UTEP where the game is set to be played.

When Rutgers was chosen to fill in for A&M last week, Illinois was also interested in the replacement spot, but multiple reports over the weekend indicated that Bret Bielema's team wouldn't push for the Sun Bowl spot. 

Three other programs that were affected by recent bowl game cancellations - Memphis, ECU, and SMU - as well as UTEP (who already played in a bowl game game but could apply for a waiver to play in a second one) are all unlikely to jump at the Sun Bowl opportunity, according to reports.

While it seems unlikely that the NCAA would allow this (for reasons unknown to me), how fun would it be to have a willing FCS team step in to play in a bowl game like this. They know they've got four days to prep, and can make the trip a night or two before the game.

If there's no willing FBS teams, why the heck not?