Terry Bowden and his North Alabama Lions are taking their act to the next level, with the school's trustees voting to move up to Division I. They'll move up from the Gulf South Conference to a FCS conference, much to the dismay of pretty much every southeastern FCS program. They're reportedly eying the Ohio Valley Conference.
No word yet on how quickly they'll make the jump, but it looks like they could officially move up as early as 2013, as far as I can tell.
During his two years with the Lions, former Auburn Tigers coach Bowden has been building a transfer magnet of a Division II program, most recently picking up Alabama's Demetrius Goode and possibly adding potential top-10 NFL Draft pick Janoris Jenkins.
UNA football's history is among D2's most prestigious, boasting three straight titles in the early-1990s and a befuddling win over a FBS team in 1997. They hold the NCAA football record, among all levels, for the most consecutive weeks spent polling at No. 1. Though they've had some off years between the '90s and the Bowden era, they'll enter 2011 having made the postseason six years in a row.