The reason for nonconference football mismatches

We all see it happen every year.  Big schools play little schools in nonconference games.  Michigan, Florida, and USC take on Western Nebraska A&M, East Dakota Polytechnic, and Sister Margaret's Home for Wayward Girls.

We know why the big schools do it; they get to warm up on hapless opponents and pad their undefeated records to enhance their postseason bowl appearance chances.  Why do the little schools subject their players to 68-3 defeats?  The StarTribune explains:

"...the [Minnesota] Gophers sent the [New Mexico State] Aggies home with an $800,000 tip Saturday, the largest visiting-team guarantee the Gophers have ever paid.

Nothing will change the economics of playing seven home games every season, however. It's necessary to find willing partners, and the price keeps going up. "It's become an arms race," Maturi said. "Look what happened to Purdue -- 10 months ago, they had Kent State on their schedule. Then Kent State paid the buyout and went to Alabama, because Alabama paid them more than a million dollars."

NCAA football.  Think of it as a farm league for the NFL.

Speaking of which, I gotta go.  Back later.