Quote Originally Posted by The Boogie Down View Post
Surprised this didn't get more comments. Maybe it will now since it's more of an off-season subject. Anyway, interesting read although the author (a Miami grad who helped Bear Bryant with his biography) seems to have a slight I-A bias. Wonder how many schools have been I-AA since 1978 and, in looking back now, if their fans think the split was all for the best? Would things have been better without an official split and with the entire I-AA world operating the way G-5 currently does? Would be cool to get others takes, especially those who were around then, on the split.

An aside, funny how so many of the I-AA schools mentioned (like San Jose State, Ball State, Marshall and Boise State) have since moved up.


This was 40 years ago and, my opinion, it would have happened eventually; if not then, then probably when ESPN came on the scene. Interesting when the article mentions "TV package" as the dollar explosion brought about by ESPN (and other networks) hadn't happened (and couldn't have even been imagined back then). I know Portland State was 1-AA back then, but soon decided to drop back down to DII shortly after, then returned to DI status (and 1-AA) in 1996. We saw another "split", so to say, just recently with the emergence of the P5/G5 within D1-A. I'm also thinking another split is just on the horizon, possibly involving some of the G5 schools and the upper FCS schools.