Howard Schnellenberger accepted the unique challenge in 1998 to help build a college football program from scratch at Florida Atlantic.

With a 24-21 win last December over Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl, the Owls became the first Sun Belt Conference team to win a bowl game in back-to-back years. It happened in the program's eighth year of existence and third in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision.

FAU, which shared the 2007 league championship with Troy and beat Memphis, 44-27, that season in the New Orleans Bowl, is now focused on earning its first outright conference title. After finishing tied for third in the Sun Belt standings a season ago, the Owls were recently picked third in a preseason poll by the league's coaches and select media members.

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Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • July 30, 2009