Jacksonville State University is having fun with this move from FCS to FBS.
Earlier this week, everyone’s favorite country song of a school in Jacksonville, Alabama, announced that it is officially embracing its easy-going persona and rebranding itself as Jax State. Jacksonville State is a mouthful. Jax State already has half its clothes off, and stays ready for a good time or a brawl.
Jacksonville is a city. Jax is an attitude. Jacksonville State is no more. Jax State is joining Conference USA this year, and will play in CUSA beginning with the 2023 football season. Get your tix now, folks. The Gamecox will make their FBS debut with a new look, new name and new logo. The rebranding sets Jax State apparent from everyone else as the only school in FBS that takes just three letters to spell and isn’t an abbreviation. What does that mean? I have no idea, but as a writer of words, I kinda like it. Fewer the better and loaded with style.
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Jacksonville State is for the people who think good writing means proper grammar. Jax State breaks the rules, and makes you remember. Most of college football’s Xs live in Texas. Then there’s New Mexico and New Mexico State, which are both fine names. Jax State ain’t got a care in the world and hasn’t cut his hair since high school graduation. He’ll meet your parents in flip-flops and his favorite Miller Light T-shirt.
Jax State, baby, bringing the X-treme side of college football to FBS. Personally, I would have gone with JaxXx State, but maybe we’ll just save that for the tailgate scene before kickoff.
It’s just a party coming out of my mouth every time I say it, Jax State. Miami is the ‘U’ and Jax State is home of the ‘X.’
Hopefully we’ll get to see Jax State’s finest throw up their Xs on national television during those mid-week games in October. The CUSA schedules came out this week, too, and Jax State opens up its season at UTEP on Saturday, Aug.26. After that, Jax State plays its first home game on Saturday, Sept. 2, against East Tennessee State before heading to Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Sept.9.
The CUSA slate then gets a little X-perimental in October.
League-wide, there are no games scheduled for Saturdays during the month. Jax State plays at Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday, Oct.4, at home vs. Liberty on Tuesday, Oct.10, at home against Western Kentucky on Tuesday, Oct.17, and at FIU on Wednesday, Oct.25.
Jax State then goes to South Carolina on Saturday, Nov.4, for a little Gamecox on Gamecocks action.
Jax State Gamecox: X-emplary marching band, X-factor of CUSA, X-wing offense by coach Rich Rodriguez, X-Men of college football … on and on it goes. I absolutely love it, and it makes a lot of sense, too.
Understandably, Jacksonville State can be confusing for people because Jacksonville is neither a state, nor the first Jacksonville anyone ever thinks about. Cozy Jacksonville, Alabama, is in Calhoun County, and the school there, now officially known as Jax State, is the place where Rich Rod went to start a college football revolution and where musician Randy Owen of the band Alabama majored in English.
Owen remains highly involved with Jax State, and I’m told he’s X-static with this new Jax State makeover.
Jax State is far away from Jacksonville, Florida, which is the sprawling city where Urban Meyer went to kill his career as a football coach, the home of Jacksonville University and the city that gave the world the band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
And, see, here’s where things get really mixed up for me. The University of Alabama plays “Dixieland Delight” during games, which is the song by Owen’s band, Alabama, but is actually about “rolling down a backwoods Tennessee byway.” Jax State, if we’re being honest, is the “Freebird” of college football.
Jacksonville University calls themselves the Dolphins. Kids at Jax State blow off class to go fish.
They drive their yellow trucks onto the beaches in Jacksonville, Florida. They drive their xXx-treme terrain jeeps with the new shoxXx into the mountains at JaxXx State.
People who go to Jax State affectionately refer to their school as Just Show Up, but that’s not X-actly fair. Jax State produced such luminaries as Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Bragg, Masters champion Danny Willett and that buddy of yours who went to school long enough to join a frat, but then dropped out to start a construction business and is now a multi-millionaire with a house on the lake and another back somewhere in the woods.
Your buddy is already trying to figure out how to buy some JaxXx State flags for his jeep. What are you waiting for?
I can’t help but get more and more X-cited about Jax State’s big move to FBS. Something tells me this fun little school up the woods is going to end up shoxXx-ing the world.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of “We Want Bama: A season of hope and the making of Nick Saban’s ‘ultimate team’”. You can find him on Twitter @JoeGoodmanJr.