NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
There was a trolling post on this. Sorry. Why does NDSU stay in FBS —- Mine is a real question
1- People say G5 offers less money. That’s just not true. G5 pays more. Thus App GSU. Coastal Carolina. JMU. Etc etc
2- Is it a geographic thing? I saw something about ASUN?
or am I missing the real reason?? Doe the admin just like FCS?
a legitimate question. Thanks in advance for answers
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
Geography is reason #1... FBS conferences with very rare exceptions do not take football only affiliates and the only 2 relatively close geographic fits are the Big 12 and Big Ten and that's laughable to even put NDSU in that conversation. The more realistic ones would be the MAC and MWC and those are the only 2 G5 leagues unaffected by realignment (so far). I doubt the MAC is all that interested in expanding up to ND anyway.
Beyond that it's political. ND is a conservative state that does not appropriate funds to higher education willy nilly. Add that to the fact that there's waaaay too many 4 year state schools in ND (6 I believe) that the higher education funding pie is cut into there's not much for state support so the school has a hard enough time getting state funding for academic projects much less athletic projects. They would have to find their own funds to support an FBS move. The student body has also been resistant to raising (the very minimal in relation to most FCS/G5 athleticndepartment) fees going to the athletic department voting that down several times over the last few years.
There's also the debate about how serious the NDSU administration is about a move. There's a narrative that is gaining steam amongst some vocal fans that NDSU's athletic director isn't being aggressive enough in pitching the school to FBS conferences and not being public enough about the vision for the future of the program and the department. I find this to be pure speculation since anytime these conference realignment stories break it turns out that is has been something in the works for a while so who knows how advanced or not advanced the discussions are between NDSU and prospective FBS conference suitors.
The new WAC is an intriguing option since it could present an option to go FBS while maintaining NDSU's existing conference memberships in all other sports which is important given the low financial impact of those existing memberships in the Summit League and Big 12 (for wrestling). NDSU's president also just announced a $10M budget shortfall so now is not the time to be raising travel/recruiting/coaching salary costs for the non-football sports at NDSU.
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
Aside from the killer geography, let's note that NDSU signed a ~$2M/year media contract in 2020. CUSA just signed a $750k/year deal with mid-week games. Why on earth would we want to trade that?
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
Thank you both for explaining that
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
Who’s going to invite them? The MAC showed interest in expansion, but that was by adding Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, they don’t seem interested in westward expansion. The Mountain West would likely look at either New Mexico State and UTEP, or the Montana schools if they ever need to get new members. There’s simply no feasible option for NDSU.
The only scenario I see is if the ASUN/WAC do end up moving to the FBS, it could open the door for either the MVFC to move as a group, or for certain schools between the MVFC and Big Sky to form a conference together and move up.
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JacksFan40
Who’s going to invite them? The MAC showed interest in expansion, but that was by adding Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, they don’t seem interested in westward expansion. The Mountain West would likely look at either New Mexico State and UTEP, or the Montana schools if they ever need to get new members. There’s simply no feasible option for NDSU.
The only scenario I see is if the ASUN/WAC do end up moving to the FBS, it could open the door for either the MVFC to move as a group, or for certain schools between the MVFC and Big Sky to form a conference together and move up.
It was the other way around. WKU and MTSU showed interest in the MAC, and most assumed they would be invited. But the MAC opted to stand pat with their 12 current members even though those two additions would've improved MBB significantly and would have given the MAC a gateway to southern recruiting grounds.
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
JacksFan40
Who’s going to invite them? The MAC showed interest in expansion, but that was by adding Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, they don’t seem interested in westward expansion. The Mountain West would likely look at either New Mexico State and UTEP, or the Montana schools if they ever need to get new members. There’s simply no feasible option for NDSU.
The only scenario I see is if the ASUN/WAC do end up moving to the FBS, it could open the door for either the MVFC to move as a group, or for certain schools between the MVFC and Big Sky to form a conference together and move up.
If the WAC/ASUN move up to FBS, what's to stop ANY conference from moving up? Assuming that doesn't happen and status quo continues, the best bet would be for a combination of Big Sky and MVFC schools to work with CUSA and form a "Mountain West" or "Snow Belt" division which would likely also include New Mexico State and UTEP.
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Professor Chaos
Geography is reason #1... FBS conferences with very rare exceptions do not take football only affiliates and the only 2 relatively close geographic fits are the Big 12 and Big Ten and that's laughable to even put NDSU in that conversation. The more realistic ones would be the MAC and MWC and those are the only 2 G5 leagues unaffected by realignment (so far). I doubt the MAC is all that interested in expanding up to ND anyway.
Beyond that it's political. ND is a conservative state that does not appropriate funds to higher education willy nilly. Add that to the fact that there's waaaay too many 4 year state schools in ND (6 I believe) that the higher education funding pie is cut into there's not much for state support so the school has a hard enough time getting state funding for academic projects much less athletic projects. They would have to find their own funds to support an FBS move. The student body has also been resistant to raising (the very minimal in relation to most FCS/G5 athleticndepartment) fees going to the athletic department voting that down several times over the last few years.
There's also the debate about how serious the NDSU administration is about a move. There's a narrative that is gaining steam amongst some vocal fans that NDSU's athletic director isn't being aggressive enough in pitching the school to FBS conferences and not being public enough about the vision for the future of the program and the department. I find this to be pure speculation since anytime these conference realignment stories break it turns out that is has been something in the works for a while so who knows how advanced or not advanced the discussions are between NDSU and prospective FBS conference suitors.
The new WAC is an intriguing option since it could present an option to go FBS while maintaining NDSU's existing conference memberships in all other sports which is important given the low financial impact of those existing memberships in the Summit League and Big 12 (for wrestling). NDSU's president also just announced a $10M budget shortfall so now is not the time to be raising travel/recruiting/coaching salary costs for the non-football sports at NDSU.
Somehow, a conservative state by the name of Alabama doesn't seem to follow that same philosophy.
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
FBS is like living in a high end neighborhood that has now doubled its size by adding a trailer park. The attraction is evaporating.
Re: NDSU to FBS?? . Real question.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sitting Bull
FBS is like living in a high end neighborhood that has now doubled its size by adding a trailer park. The attraction is evaporating.
They added the Trailer Parks when GaSou and Appy moved down.
Now, they are bringing the Homeless, er, UnHoused off the streets into the FBS Shelter, Soup Kitchen & Detox Center.