Image via the Nashville Post
The beginning of the college football season is rife with lopsided matchups that end in blowouts as schools bludgeon overmatched, lower tiered opponents.
Many times HBCUs are often fodder in these games, as the financial constraints the schools are already saddled with necessitate they are a piñata in these gridiron beatdowns in order to garner the payouts that can largely fund their athletics.
Even other HBCU’s are not immune to to being punching bags for their higher division counterparts as there are several of these matchups in the early weeks of the 2026 calendar, highlighted by South Carolina State’s 87-0 obliteration of Savannah State.
In the aftermath of his institution suffering a 66-14 beat down at the hands of Jackson State, Edward Waters University president Dr. A. Zachary Faison made news with a written statement in which he indicated that the school would no longer take part in such contests for no less than a $100,000 minimum after travel and other expenses are accounted for.
During the latest Ohio Valley Conference coaches call, Barlow discussed the financial realities surrounding “money games” and argued that schools should be receiving at least $1 million when they take on programs from conferences such as the SEC and Big Ten.
Barlow’s comments came while discussing the broader issue of lower-division and FCS programs taking on heavily favored opponents.
“I could write a book on that, I have been a part of them,” Barlow said. “I understand why not just HBCUs [play them], there’s FCS schools [that do as well] , Austin Peay played Vanderbilt there’s a bunch of games that happened like that.”
Barlow pointed to the disparity in payouts that can exist between programs participating in these games.He referenced Tennessee State’s upcoming matchup with Georgia and said the Tigers were reportedly set to receive approximately $600,000.
At the same time, Barlow said he had seen reports that Georgia had paid UMass approximately $1.9 million for a similar game.
I think the issue for me is we got supposedly 600 K from UGA but I’ve seen, read an article ,and with AI stuff never know if it’s true, but I saw an article that said that they paid UMASS $1.9 million to play them and then they played some other paid some other school 1.9 [million]to play them maybe a year or two ago.
“I guess for me if you’re gonna play those type games, especially when you’re playing SEC, big time opponents, I think that dollar amount should be no less than $1 million,” Barlow said.
For Barlow, however, the argument isn’t simply about increasing the amount of money going into an athletic department’s general fund.
He believes the changing financial landscape of college athletics — particularly NIL, collectives, cost of attendance and scholarship expenses — should change how schools approach the revenue generated from these games.
“I do think of a good portion of that should come back to your NIL and your collective,” Barlow said. “Because that will definitely put you in a good spot.”
Barlow also argued that additional money could be directed toward scholarships and other areas that directly strengthen a football program.
His reasoning is rooted in what he believes players are being asked to endure physically and mentally when they step onto the field against significantly larger and deeper programs.
“You are putting them up against guys that are bigger, stronger,” Barlow said.
Then Barlow delivered perhaps the most memorable line of his argument.
“I know we say that ‘they put their pants on just like we do,’ but theirs are True Religions and ours are Duck Head or Levi’s, so there is a difference.”
The point was clear: The playing field may technically be level once the game begins, but the resources behind the programs are not.
HBCUs frequently operate with considerably smaller athletic budgets than the Power Four programs they face in money games. Yet those contests can provide valuable revenue that can help fund their athletic departments.
And the games aren’t limited to HBCUs.
As Barlow noted, FCS programs across the country routinely accept guarantee games against higher-resource FBS opponents.
The difference, he believes, is that schools need to maximize the financial return when they make that decision.
Barlow specifically praised Edward Waters president Dr. A. Zachary Faison for taking that approach when discussing the financial terms of a money game involving the Tigers.
“I think Faizon at Edward Waters [is right] that if you’re gonna do it, you want to maximize [the payout],” Barlow said.
That philosophy becomes even more important in the current era of college athletics, where schools are facing increased expenses associated with scholarships, cost of attendance and NIL.
For Barlow, the question isn’t whether HBCUs should play these games.
He understands why they do.
The question is whether they are being compensated appropriately for doing so.
“If you’re gonna go and put you guys in harm’s way versus teams like that, I do think of a good portion of that should come back to your NIL and your collective,” Barlow said.
The beginning of the college football season has once again produced a number of lopsided matchups, including games involving HBCUs.
South Carolina State’s 87-0 victory over Savannah State earlier this season served as an extreme example of the competitive gap that can exist between programs at different levels of college football.
For HBCUs and other FCS programs, however, these games aren’t simply about what happens on the scoreboard.
They’re also business decisions.
And if Barlow gets his way, the next time an HBCU agrees to walk into an SEC or Big Ten stadium, the price of admission should start at $1 million.
