In what would seem to be a nice, warm evening on Sept. 8, 2007, in Lawrence, pandemonium broke out as Kansas football fans celebrated a blowout victory against Division I-AA Southeastern Louisiana University.

Junior cornerback Aqib Talib leaded a group of players carrying a cooler of Gatorade to surprise coach Mark Mangino with a Gatorade bath. Meanwhile, a mob of fans have torn down the goal posts. Another group of fans, looking to cool off, have decided to take a dip in Potter Lake and rejoice in this ever-irrelevant victory.

Sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing had a career day and was a key performer in the Jayhawks’ 56-0 victory passing for 481 yards and five touchdowns.

When asked about the game he said, “They never stood a chance. This win gave our guys a chance to show Southeastern they are a second-class team that will never be good enough to play on our level.”

Mangino, who was close by, quickly corrected his star quarterback, “Not for at least another five to ten years.”

Talib, pre-season All-American, led an astounding defensive performance for Kansas with a career-high seven interceptions. In a post-game interview he said, “I felt like Spiderman out there. There wasn’t a pass I couldn’t run down or a guy I couldn’t cover. At half-time I asked coach to just let me play on defense by myself and give the other guys a break because it just wasn’t fair anymore.”

Note: Before you get alarmed, let’s go back to reality. In all seriousness, this would never happen.

What may seem to be David versus Goliath is actually a chance for two football programs to improve. For years, teams such as University of Florida, Virginia Tech and rival Kansas State have capitalized on playing out-of-conference schedules against lesser-known schools such as Southeastern Louisiana University, Florida International University or Western Carolina University. As for these lesser-known programs, the larger school awards them a hefty payoff, usually between $200,000 and $1,000,000, for playing a high-caliber team.

For a team such as Florida International, which went 0-12 last season, making a bowl game is out of the question. What probably will result in a loss on the schedule is a huge gain for the school’s entire athletic department, not just the football team. If one of these teams plays three to four teams and makes a few million dollars a season, the school’s athletic department is receiving funding they would otherwise never get.

This season, Kansas hosts out-of-conference teams Central Michigan, Southeastern Louisiana University, Florida International and Toledo University. In CBSSports.com’s ranking of the 120 Division I-A teams, Central Michigan, ranked No. 59, is the only team out of the four that comes close to the competition Kansas has to prepare for in the Big 12.

Though the idea of beating up on a bunch of unknown teams does not sound as exciting as described earlier, the easy schedule should allow this Kansas football team to gain some confidence and have some success before their Big 12 opening game against rival Kansas State on Oct. 6.

— Edited by Rachel Bock