The Auburn Tigers are paying out an astounding $1.5 million to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks for a 2026 non-conference college football matchup.
The Alabama Crimson Tide has famously refused to play in-state teams, instead choosing to outsource the money to seemingly any state but the Yellowhammer State.
JSU athletic director Greg Zeitz revealed the generous payout from AU to JSU during a football media day.
"... It cost more money to be FBS, but you're generating much more money, your guaranteed games, the year we were fortunate to go down and beat Florida State we got $400,000 for that. We're getting a million dollars from Central Florida this year and $1.5 (million) from Auburn next year," Sietz said, per the Gadsden Times.
"As an AD I like that because now you're getting the same pot of money but you're getting more money because you're not splitting it with two other schools. From that standpoint, it helps us as well."
According to the Gadsden Times' Maxwell Donaldson, the last conference payout as an FCS program was $88,000, but Jacksonville State is now they are getting more than $5 million from Conference USA.
While JSU is not part of the University of Alabama system -- that'd be UAT, UAB, and UAH -- keeping the taxpayer money in-state would be a nice gesture. Then again, this isn't exactly the school known for nice gestures.
Bama Rush, anyone?
As the Gamecocks navigate the post-Rich Rodriguez world in Calhoun County and begin the Charles Kelly era, it's nice to know they have a friend in Auburn.
It's too bad that the school where Nick Saban molded Kelly isn't willing to do the same.