The day after FIU football became bowl eligible while saving the state of Florida from being a big bunch of FBS zeroes for the weekend, the Panthers got some national respect: votes in the Amway Top 25 Coaches poll.
A 38-17 and-not-that-close whipping of Western Kentucky gave FIU a 6-2 record (4-0 in Conference USA) and six votes in the coaches’ poll. That puts them second among CUSA teams, behind UAB’s 24 votes, and second among Miami-Dade teams, behind the 38 votes for the Hurricanes, 27-13 losers to Boston College Friday night.