The University of Delaware football program will move to FBS in 2025 and join Conference USA alongside Missouri State as first-year members. The Blue Hens become the 135th and 136th FBS programs, marking a major step up from FCS and earlier Division II identity. Longtime fans noted a cultural stereotype of Delaware as a small, overlooked state, even joking with shirts that read Dela-where? The university enrolls about 24,000 students, larger than many big-time schools, and changing dynamics in college sports enabled the program's elevation to higher competition.
NEWARK, Del. -- Russ Crook has a shirt he likes to wear to Delaware football road games. He's a lifelong fan and the current president of the Blue Hen Touchdown Club, but he knows the jokes, so he picked up the shirt a few years back when he saw it at the historic National 5 & 10 store on Main Street. It's gray with a map of the state across the chest and the ubiquitous punchline delivered succinctly: "Dela-where?"
Yes, the state is small, though Rhode Island gets the acclaim that comes with being the country's smallest. In popular culture, Delaware often translates as something of a non-place -- cue the "Wayne's World" GIF -- and it's widely appreciated by outsiders as little more than a 28-mile stretch of I-95 between Maryland and Pennsylvania that hardly warrants mentioning. It's a harmless enough stereotype, but Cook is hopeful this football season can start to change some perceptions.
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