FBS Programs that should consider returning to FCS

[blaw0203]

With all of the conference realignment talks going on in FBS right now, are there any programs you can think of that should seriously consider moving to FCS? Im from Florida and the first ones that come to mind for me are Florida International and Florida Atlantic. Which ones would you advise to make the move?

[JSUBison]

Idaho
Western Kentucky
Utah State
San Jose St
New Mexico St
The entire MAC conference xlolx

[superman7515]

Idaho
Western Kentucky
Utah State
San Jose St
New Mexico St
The entire MAC conference xlolx

Utah State, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Temple, Central Michigan, Toledo, and Western Michigan were never 1AA/FCS. They can't return to FCS, as the thread asks, if they were never there to start with.

[Cocky]

In the perfect world any school with an avg attendance of less than 35000 should be FCS. Boise would need to expand or go FCS (I dont think their stadium is that large).

[CollegeSportsInfo]

There's an argument to be made that there is a batter chance that the NCAA merges FBS and FCS before even a single FBS school dropped to FCS. When it gets to a point at a school where such drastic football changes are made, the first things I hear are "cutting the program" in conversations I've had. There's a stigma to a downgrade, more so that cutting a program at the FBS level. We haven't seen an FBS school drop the sport of late, nor downgrade.

So much different in FCS. In a sense, URI was forced with the same economic pressures as NU and Hofstra. They opted to downgrade, but in the larger sense FCS is so peripheral to the sports mainstream, that it's less of a stigma.

[WestCoastAggie]

It would be better to justify the various levels (FBS, FCS, Div. 2) by the amount schools spend on their overall athletic dept.

[NHwildEcat]

I think its more likely that we will see the combination of the two sub-divisions before we see programs drop down to FCS. I say D1 is D1 no matter what the attendance is. The only way this would happen though would be a join agreement with the FBS conferences to accept a playoff...which we all know damn well they should have anyways.

I think in 20 years there won't be a FCS or FBS...just D1.

[DetroitFlyer]

There's an argument to be made that there is a batter chance that the NCAA merges FBS and FCS before even a single FBS school dropped to FCS. When it gets to a point at a school where such drastic football changes are made, the first things I hear are "cutting the program" in conversations I've had. There's a stigma to a downgrade, more so that cutting a program at the FBS level. We haven't seen an FBS school drop the sport of late, nor downgrade.

So much different in FCS. In a sense, URI was forced with the same economic pressures as NU and Hofstra. They opted to downgrade, but in the larger sense FCS is so peripheral to the sports mainstream, that it's less of a stigma.

Give me break. URI did not downgrade. They simply changed conferences within FCS.

[darell1976]

To go along with your question is there any FCS teams that should make the move downward to D2 or D3?

[1andDone]

UAB, should they have struggled ever since going FBS

[kperk014]

The major football power conferences will never allow the NCAA to force them to share the megabucks with the non-power conferences, much less FCS. If it's tried, you'll see the reemergence of the CFA.

[FargoBison]

The major football power conferences will never allow the NCAA to force them to share the megabucks with the non-power conferences, much less FCS. If it's tried, you'll see the reemergence of the CFA.

Who says they'd have to...It's not like they are sharing their revenue with MAC or Sun Belt now.

[DJKyR0]

Boise State. Who do they think they are?!

[NoCoDanny]

I think it's more likely the BCS conferences break off on their own with the remnants of FBS merging with FCS.

[GAD]

The major football power conferences will never allow the NCAA to force them to share the megabucks with the non-power conferences, much less FCS. If it's tried, you'll see the reemergence of the CFA.

ding ding ding that's it right there

[Cocky]

UAB, should they have struggled ever since going FBS
They avg about the same as Troy so why should they and not Troy or any other Sunbelt team?

[TheBisonator]

They avg about the same as Troy so why should they and not Troy or any other Sunbelt team?

UAB is an M sized program playing in an XXXXL stadium. They need to move to a smaller stadium, and on campus. Aren't they building a new stadium now??

[Cocky]

UAB is an M sized program playing in an XXXXL stadium. They need to move to a smaller stadium, and on campus. Aren't they building a new stadium now??

Yes, just announced a new stadium. Memory tells me it was 30-35,000.

They do not great attendance but catch alot of grief while Troy has about the same and everyone talks about their great support. To compare all of the DI schools in AL not in the SEC by attendance USA, UAB, Troy and JSU are all very close together then Samford, AL State and AL A&M are lower in attendance but fairly close together.

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

Give me break. URI did not downgrade. They simply changed conferences within FCS.

In what universe is decreasing by, what, 30 scholarships not a 'downgrade'?

[JSU02]

Yes, just announced a new stadium. Memory tells me it was 30-35,000.

They do not great attendance but catch alot of grief while Troy has about the same and everyone talks about their great support. To compare all of the DI schools in AL not in the SEC by attendance USA, UAB, Troy and JSU are all very close together then Samford, AL State and AL A&M are lower in attendance but fairly close together.
JSU actually outdrew UAB during the regular season. Legion Field really pulls UAB's program down. Who wants to watch a mediocre team, play in an oversized, outdated stadium in the projects? A new stadium on campus will do wonders for that program.

[BEAR]

What teams should move from FBS back to FCS? Um...most Sunbelt teams?

[Cocky]

I agree with the financial model argument. FBS is by far the best model for any DI school. Competitive model would suggest otherwise on the group members or division of teams.

[Redbird Ray]

Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Idaho, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Bowling Green State, and Buffalo are all programs that should seriously consider moving down to FCS.

They would all compete immediately at our level. Also, any FBS program that has to lie about their attendance just to meet the 15K regulation doesn't belong in FBS in the first place.

[Redbird Ray]

It would be interesting if FBS/FCS was like European soccer where teams get promoted and relegated based on performance. Take the top three FCS teams each year and promote them to FBS, and take the last place team from the Sun Belt, MAC, and WAC and have them demoted. I would leave CUSA and MWC out of this because in general, their AD budgets are much higher than those of FCS and Sun Belt/MAC/WAC schools. To get your top three FCS schools, you could have your two FCS title game schools, and then have a consolation game between the runners up to see who gets the third FBS invite.

This season you would have had Eastern Washington, Deleware, and Villanova/Georgia Southern promoted, with North Texas, Akron, and San Jose State demoted. I know this would never happen, but it would be kind of fun. It would also make gamblers much more interested in the bottom tier of FBS and the top tier of FCS as well.

[Redbird Ray]

It would be interesting if FBS/FCS was like European soccer where teams get promoted and relegated based on performance. Take the top three FCS teams each year and promote them to FBS, and take the last place team from the Sun Belt, MAC, and WAC and have them demoted. I would leave CUSA and MWC out of this because in general, their AD budgets are much higher than those of FCS and Sun Belt/MAC/WAC schools. To get your top three FCS schools, you could have your two FCS title game schools, and then have a consolation game between the runners up to see who gets the third FBS invite.

This season you would have had Eastern Washington, Deleware, and Villanova/Georgia Southern promoted, with North Texas, Akron, and San Jose State demoted. I know this would never happen, but it would be kind of fun. It would also make gamblers much more interested in the bottom tier of FBS and the top tier of FCS as well.

Or if you don't like the idea of singling out FBS conferences for relegation, have a reverse BCS poll that would artifically rank the three worst teams in the country the same way they artifically rank the three best. That would be something huh?

[GAD]

Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, Idaho, Ball State, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Bowling Green State, and Buffalo are all programs that should seriously consider moving down to FCS.

They would all compete immediately at our level. Also, any FBS program that has to lie about their attendance just to meet the 15K regulation doesn't belong in FBS in the first place.
I remember reading somewhere UL-Monroe would just drop football if they were ever force to return to I-AA/FCS

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I agree with the financial model argument. FBS is by far the best model for any DI school. Competitive model would suggest otherwise on the group members or division of teams.

The financial model argument is complete baloney. Very few FBS and FCS programs generate more money than they cost to run - precious few FCS programs make a "profit", and zero non-BCS FBS schools make a "profit".

Even a small look at the FBS "financial models" that work involve teams that involve entrenched sporting monopolies that have had a head start for decades. (Texas. Notre Dame. Michigan. Ohio State. USC.) Troy's fight song will never capture the hearts of Alabamans the way Roll Tide does. Only a complete collapse of the Alabama football program or the SEC - which will never happen as long as the NCAA exists - might offer Troy the unlikeliest of shots to capture the heart of Alabamans. But any serious thoughts that a Troy can hope to "make money" the same way Alabama does is delusional. Sadly, it's a delusion that is shared my many fans of the Western Kentucky's, the UL-Monroe's, the Florida Atlantic's.

The only "profit" that anyone should be worried about is the fact you're giving athletes an opportunity to get through school for free. And when you cheat those kids the opportunity to play for a true national championship (which is what the Bowl System does), it's wrong. Boise State and New Mexico State enters the season knowing full well they cannot compete for a national championship. That cheats those kids - and that's the system that FBS has in place.

[CollegeSportsInfo]

There's relativity that needs to be considered. As a blanket statement it's someone correct to say "Very few FBS and FCS programs generate more money than they cost to run - precious few FCS programs make a "profit", and zero non-BCS FBS schools make a "profit" (although you are incorrect in claiming that NO non-BCS FBS schools make money, in a given year.)

But the relativity comes when tying that statement to the title of the thread:

Since the thread is about "downgrades", and in relation to revenue, I think you'd find the vast majority of these schools would indeed drop football rather than downgrade. Some schools have gone on the record about this. And the reason is that while having FBS football, they lose less than they would with FCS football.

And it's the same rationale behind some of the recent FCS to FBS upgrades as well as future upgrades. UMass loses about 3 million a year due to football. But at the FBS level, even the modest projections call for a balance to the budget...and that's in joining the MAC (not exactly a football powerhouse conference).

Somewhat circular, but goes back to my original post in this thread: I don't think you'd find even a single FBS school that would downgrade to FCS versus dropping the sport all together. Would love to be and hope I'm wrong.

[TheBisonator]

There's relativity that needs to be considered. As a blanket statement it's someone correct to say "Very few FBS and FCS programs generate more money than they cost to run - precious few FCS programs make a "profit", and zero non-BCS FBS schools make a "profit" (although you are incorrect in claiming that NO non-BCS FBS schools make money, in a given year.)

But the relativity comes when tying that statement to the title of the thread:

Since the thread is about "downgrades", and in relation to revenue, I think you'd find the vast majority of these schools would indeed drop football rather than downgrade. Some schools have gone on the record about this. And the reason is that while having FBS football, they lose less than they would with FCS football.

And it's the same rationale behind some of the recent FCS to FBS upgrades as well as future upgrades. UMass loses about 3 million a year due to football. But at the FBS level, even the modest projections call for a balance to the budget...and that's in joining the MAC (not exactly a football powerhouse conference).

Somewhat circular, but goes back to my original post in this thread: I don't think you'd find even a single FBS school that would downgrade to FCS versus dropping the sport all together. Would love to be and hope I'm wrong.

Then if FCS football programs loses so much money, then why are we even here?? I mean, why have an FCS if it's a proven money-losing proposition?? If this was truth, and every school opened their eyes to this truth, there would be a huge exodus.

I don't know how much money NDSU's football program loses every year (I don't believe the OPE data), but if it was proven we would lose less money in FBS than in FCS, I know our AD would be looking to make the move in a heartbeat.

I do know this: TV revenue funds in FCS are almost non-existant. I think even the Sun Belt makes many times more in TV revenue than the CAA does. I do know that there's lots of money to be made in TV if you go FBS. (Not huge amounts like the SEC, but still way more than anything tn the FCS) Which is a real shame, because the TV networks are basically telling me, the viewer, that Sun Belt and MAC games are more interesting and entertaining to watch and deserve a higher demand than CAA and MVFC games, which in reality, that's not the case. Some of the ugliest FB I have ever watched were Sun Belt games, and I find the play of the top 3 FCS conferences (CAA SoCon and MVFC) more entertaining than the Sun Belt and MAC. yet there's very little, if any, money being exchanged in TV deals for these conferences, while SB and MAC schools get to at least moderately cash in with their TV. If I were the head of ESPN, my philosophy would be to treat the top level of FCS the same as the Sun Belt and MAC in terms of programming and promotion.

People like to make fun of the Sun Belt games on Tuesday nights on ESPN2/U, but the reality is that the schools playing those games are being paid WAAAY more than the schools playing in the MVFC Game Of The Week on Fox College Sports on a regular Saturday afternoon. The Sun Belt games are also reaching a larger potential audience as well.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Since the thread is about "downgrades", and in relation to revenue, I think you'd find the vast majority of these schools would indeed drop football rather than downgrade. Some schools have gone on the record about this. And the reason is that while having FBS football, they lose less than they would with FCS football.

I don't doubt that most, if not all, would drop football rather than downgrade. But it's not because of economics.


And it's the same rationale behind some of the recent FCS to FBS upgrades as well as future upgrades. UMass loses about 3 million a year due to football. But at the FBS level, even the modest projections call for a balance to the budget...and that's in joining the MAC (not exactly a football powerhouse conference).

The financial justification for UMass going from "losing three million a year" to "profit" in the MAC (the MAC!) is just the latest example of financial finagling to justify their desires to be a little less in the shadow of UConn. I can guarantee that the way they cook their books now to call scholarship money an "expense" to play football would be a much, much deeper hole in an 85 scholarship world in the MAC.


Somewhat circular, but goes back to my original post in this thread: I don't think you'd find even a single FBS school that would downgrade to FCS versus dropping the sport all together. Would love to be and hope I'm wrong.

That's fine and good. I don't want to force reclasssification on any FBS school to play at the FCS level. If you want to pour your money down a black hole for no shot at a national championship, feel free. But the idea that there's a "financial argument" for FBS football aside from the entrenched superpowers is ridiculous. Quoting UMass' financial projects does not help your case: for years they've declared scholarship money as expenses. That they "magically" call MAC football the solution to their "financial woes" rather proves my point that UMass and other schools make the numbers say what they want to hear.

[Cocky]

Troy's attendance avg is about the same as JSU's but Troy loses less money. I understand only the top schools are making money but the bottom of FBS is losing less and getting more pub. Also on avg their other sports get better games and more pub.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Troy's attendance avg is about the same as JSU's but Troy loses less money. I understand only the top schools are making money but the bottom of FBS is losing less and getting more pub. Also on avg their other sports get better games and more pub.

According to the EADA reports, Troy spends $15 million on their entire athletic department, Jacksonville State spends $10 million. They get more revenues, but they spend more to get them.

It used to be that in order to get any realistic FBS games, you needed to be an FBS team yourself. However, access to Alabama and Ole Miss games is now a lot more open to FCS teams. And in FCS, you have access to a championship, something you can't realistically get in FBS.

As you probably gathered above, I don't totally buy all the numbers thrown out there by the schools. But do realize that Troy has to say they "lose less money" since that justifies their existence in FBS. They'll never say "well, we were f-ing idiots to go to FBS and we're losing money hand over fist" because that's against human nature.

[BEAR]

So why would a program have to cut other sports if their football team went FCS? I can understand that those bowl games bring in some money, but the lower you go on the bowl level, the more likely you are to break even or even come up short on expenses to go to the bowl. I don't see too many Sunbelt teams making big bucks on their bowls. Please keep in mind two things:

FCS, FBS etc are all designations for FOOTBALL...football only.

All other sports are division I so it won't matter to the tennis team whether or not the football team plays for a paycheck at the FBS level or the FCS level.


Living in the Sunbelt area, I can't tell you how many negative things are said about that conference. Some say it's a glorified FCS conference that only offers a couple of standout teams that will make some noise. I don't see anything about ANY of those schools in my statewide paper.

[Red & Black]

It would be interesting if FBS/FCS was like European soccer where teams get promoted and relegated based on performance. Take the top three FCS teams each year and promote them to FBS, and take the last place team from the Sun Belt, MAC, and WAC and have them demoted. I would leave CUSA and MWC out of this because in general, their AD budgets are much higher than those of FCS and Sun Belt/MAC/WAC schools. To get your top three FCS schools, you could have your two FCS title game schools, and then have a consolation game between the runners up to see who gets the third FBS invite.

This season you would have had Eastern Washington, Deleware, and Villanova/Georgia Southern promoted, with North Texas, Akron, and San Jose State demoted. I know this would never happen, but it would be kind of fun. It would also make gamblers much more interested in the bottom tier of FBS and the top tier of FCS as well.

Love this idea. Thing is, it makes way too much sense.

[dbackjon]

Troy's attendance avg is about the same as JSU's but Troy loses less money. I understand only the top schools are making money but the bottom of FBS is losing less and getting more pub. Also on avg their other sports get better games and more pub.

Yes, the Sunbelt having the lowest seeded team in the recent NCAA tourney does wonders for them.

[FargoBison]

I don't know how much money NDSU's football program loses every year (I don't believe the OPE data), but if it was proven we would lose less money in FBS than in FCS, I know our AD would be looking to make the move in a heartbeat.



NDSU FB does not lose money. It is actually quite profitable when you consider that football drives fundraising. I think we might actually lose money in the FBS though, increased expenses and I have doubts that revenue could keep up unless we had a bigger stadium and got into a conference with a decent TV deal. Neither of those are likely to happen.

[BEAR]

FBS schools pay for prestige and recognition more than they do profits. They absolutely would have to cut sports if they dropped football to the FCS division because football would no longer generate the money it used to allowing other Department of Athletics funds to be allocated elsewhere. Few schools can pull that off. The FCS division is a hardknock life because it neither generates the profits allowing for expansion of athletics that the FBS division does, nor does it have the regionality of Divisions II and III. Part of the reason why Division II Grand Valley is able to finance so many sports is because it does not have to finance travel to the entire midwest in its conference. Grand Valley's entire conference is located in Michigan and Ohio.

If your conference is going to spread across four or five states, then you better be prepared to dish out money for that travel. FBS schools can do that and still finance more sports because of the revenue of their conferences being associated with FBS. FCS conferences cannot afford that same luxury. It's like trying to compare the $EC to the Southern Conference. If an $EC school moved down, they'd lose millions of dollars a years. Even CUSA and the Sun Belt schools are better off financially then they would be if they were to move to the FCS. That's why ULM and others have said that they would drop football if they ever had to move to the FCS division. In their expansion of athletics, moving down would be detrimental financially to the institution.

I can't see those schools making ANY money or getting ANY prestige for being in those conferences..especially now since half the WAC is gone..the better half at that. LOL. If you read their messageboards, most of their fans are dying to improve their "prestige" by moving into a better conference than the Sunbelt for example. Isn't the Sunbelt a regional conference? For me to believe that a football team in the Sunbelt boosts the revenue enough to fund other sports...man I'd have to see some hard numbers. Maybe I'll look that up and post it later. But it's just hard to believe. Maybe it's true, but Sunbelt glory can't buy that many tennis balls. LOL

[SoCon48]

What teams should move from FBS back to FCS? Um...most Sunbelt teams?

<Snicker>

[SoCon48]

I can't see those schools making ANY money or getting ANY prestige for being in those conferences..especially now since half the WAC is gone..the better half at that. LOL. If you read their messageboards, most of their fans are dying to improve their "prestige" by moving into a better conference than the Sunbelt for example. Isn't the Sunbelt a regional conference? For me to believe that a football team in the Sunbelt boosts the revenue enough to fund other sports...man I'd have to see some hard numbers. Maybe I'll look that up and post it later. But it's just hard to believe. Maybe it's true, but Sunbelt glory can't buy that many tennis balls. LOL

+1

[Lehigh Football Nation]

FBS schools pay for prestige and recognition more than they do profits. They absolutely would have to cut sports if they dropped football to the FCS division because football would no longer generate the money it used to allowing other Department of Athletics funds to be allocated elsewhere.

You can't convince me that the paltry $5 million extra in revenue a year that Troy is generating on sports is getting allocated "elsewhere". Some is resulting in more scholarship money, but the rest of it is lining the pockets of the administrators. Amazing, isn't it, that in order to get $5 million more revenue, you need to spend more than $5 million. xlolx

[NHwildEcat]

Ohio State

[JDC325]

I remember reading somewhere UL-Monroe would just drop football if they were ever force to return to I-AA/FCS

It would make sense. If they are not making money in the FBS they would lose even more money in the FCS. I dont see a great future for the UL schools in the Sun Belt but all others seem to be doing atleast OK in continuing to dramatically improve facilities and raising money. The jury is still out on WKU and USA but WKU just signed 11 three star athletes. FAU has only been officially in the FBS since 2006 and is wrapping up a huge state of the art 62 million dollar stadium so it is hard to say they need to move back down just yet. FIU (06) and NT are also either wrapping up new stadiums or a stadium overhaul if I am not mistaken.
I think folks forget the Sun Belt football conference is only ten years old where half of its members either did not exist 2001 or were not FBS until after 2001. Also only one of its members was never a I-AA team. It is not like the MAC, WAC, or CUSA that are made up of a majority of established FBS programs that have been playing major college football for decades. Obviously they are at the bottom and the addition of USA, yet a brand new program, is not going to help in catching CUSA anytime soon but story of atleast half of the Sun Belt teams is still in the first chapter. I would not be surprised if FIU or FAU end up in the Big East within the decade. To much talent within 20 miles of campus for them to be bad forever.

As far as teams that need to move down the MAC should be looked at first most of them have been playing football longer than most Sun Belt team have been in existence and shown no hope of improvement or growth. Why I think 10 years is early to judge a FBS team 100 years certainly is not.

[BEAR]

Ohio State

Excuse you...that's "THE" Ohio State. xlolx

[JDC325]

I can't see those schools making ANY money or getting ANY prestige for being in those conferences..especially now since half the WAC is gone..the better half at that. LOL. If you read their messageboards, most of their fans are dying to improve their "prestige" by moving into a better conference than the Sunbelt for example. Isn't the Sunbelt a regional conference? For me to believe that a football team in the Sunbelt boosts the revenue enough to fund other sports...man I'd have to see some hard numbers. Maybe I'll look that up and post it later. But it's just hard to believe. Maybe it's true, but Sunbelt glory can't buy that many tennis balls. LOL

You would be surprised the difference between the payouts between the SoCon and Sun Belt for BCS and TV deals. The ESPN deal vs. local cable deals is quite a bit. Probably could buy tennis rackets in addition to a lot of tennis balls. While attendance is at the lower end of the FBS it still is much higher than what the FCS conferences produce.

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't know of any FCS conferences in current negotiations with ESPN to increase the number of games they already have which is 11 right now I think.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

Correct me if I am wrong but I don't know of any FCS conferences in current negotiations with ESPN to increase the number of games they already have which is 11 right now I think.

The SWAC.

[JDC325]

The SWAC.

Which has nothing to do with the quality of football as the SWAC can not contend with the likes of the CAA or SoCon much less any FBS conference. In current negotiations to increase? I doubt it

EDIT
They do not have 11 but none on ESPN classic which I know I do not get.

[AppMan]

Two thirds of the programs in FCS shouldn't be in FCS. If a program can't draw 12,000 per game it belongs in BFCS (Below Football Championship Subdivision). In 2010 only 35 of 117 programs averaged 10,000 or better, yet people still can't understand why the division isn't taken seriously.

[Cocky]

Lets just say if you were a M&A guy you would offer more for the bottom 20 FBS schools than the top 20 FCS schools.
The FCS financial model is just a tough model to work on a large scale.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

There is a direct correlation to FBS football and higher athletic budgets.

Yes, there is a direct correlation with FBS football and higher athletic budgets. You spend more. That you spend a lot more is a given. Do you get more out of it is the question. xlolx


Lets just say if you were a M&A guy you would offer more for the bottom 20 FBS schools than the top 20 FCS schools.

You're telling me these people would offer more for Akron than Appalachian State? Can I do business with the folks you're talking about? xlolx

[Cocky]

No, I believe I said bottom 20 v top 20.

[TheBisonator]

Two thirds of the programs in FCS shouldn't be in FCS. If a program can't draw 12,000 per game it belongs in BFCS (Below Football Championship Subdivision). In 2010 only 35 of 117 programs averaged 10,000 or better, yet people still can't understand why the division isn't taken seriously.

I dunno about 12,000, but I think if FBS is gonna enforce (and I use that term loosely) a 15,000 average attendance minimum, then maybe FCS needs one of at least 5,000.

I think every program that plays FCS football (no matter if they're in the NEC or Pioneer) is capable of getting 5,000 fans for at least one home game per year (The only programs where I question that ability are St. Francis PA, Georgetown and Duquesne, maybe a few others), so I think that should be a minimum standard that some of the bottom programs should work towards.

[Redhawk2010]

Two thirds of the programs in FCS shouldn't be in FCS. If a program can't draw 12,000 per game it belongs in BFCS (Below Football Championship Subdivision). In 2010 only 35 of 117 programs averaged 10,000 or better, yet people still can't understand why the division isn't taken seriously.

There aren't too many schools in the OVC that HOLD that many! I think SEMO averaged around 6k this year and that is higher than it's been. Houck Stadium's official capacity lists it around 10,000 although we had at least a couple crowds estimated at 11,000 this year.

[DFW HOYA]

I think every program that plays FCS football (no matter if they're in the NEC or Pioneer) is capable of getting 5,000 fans for at least one home game per year (The only programs where I question that ability are St. Francis PA, Georgetown and Duquesne, maybe a few others), so I think that should be a minimum standard that some of the bottom programs should work towards.

Tough to average 5,000 when your "temporary" seats (still temporary since 2005, that is), number just 2,400.

[UAalum72]

Two thirds of the programs in FCS shouldn't be in FCS. If a program can't draw 12,000 per game it belongs in BFCS (Below Football Championship Subdivision). In 2010 only 35 of 117 programs averaged 10,000 or better, yet people still can't understand why the division isn't taken seriously.
Actually only 79% (93 of 117) drew less than 12,000 last year, not counting HBCU neutral-site classics. Of those who did, 13 drew 15,000 so should belong in FBS, leaving only 11 in FCS - everybody makes the playoffs!!xrolleyesx
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2010/Internet/attendance/FCS_AVGATTENDANCE.pdf
FCS is supposed to be a cost-containment option. There are minimum requirements for number of games vs. Division I, total number of sports sponsored, and department-wide (not just football) number of scholarships.

[blaw0203]

I dunno about 12,000, but I think if FBS is gonna enforce (and I use that term loosely) a 15,000 average attendance minimum, then maybe FCS needs one of at least 5,000.

I think every program that plays FCS football (no matter if they're in the NEC or Pioneer) is capable of getting 5,000 fans for at least one home game per year (The only programs where I question that ability are St. Francis PA, Georgetown and Duquesne, maybe a few others), so I think that should be a minimum standard that some of the bottom programs should work towards.

I agree, only problem is, 1) will the NCAA actually have the balls to enforce the rules, and 2) are schools going to be honest and actually report their true attendance. However, if the NCAA were more selective before they allowed schools to change divisions, they wouldnt even have to deal with the current issues.