Could conference expansion bump any FCS schools to FBS?
The answer is: most definitely. We have gone into a lot of detail about the potential expansions of various conferences and realignments. What we haven’t seen and what one reader suggested we write about is the impact any expansion could have on FCS programs. There are a lot of forums out there for different FCS programs, and of course, each one thinks their school is prime picking for jumping up to the FBS. But what are the requirements? Which schools could even be considered? The answers might surprise you.
First of all, here are the requirements to become an FBS school:
An institution classified in Football Bowl Subdivision shall meet all the Division I membership requirements set forth in NCAA Division I Bylaws 20.9.1 through 20.9.5 and in addition, shall:
1. Sponsor a minimum of 16 varsity intercollegiate sports, including football, based on the minimum sports sponsorship and scheduling requirements set forth in Bylaw 20. Sponsorship shall include a minimum six sports involving all male teams or mixed teams (males and females), and a minimum of eight varsity intercollegiate teams involving all female teams. Institutions may use up to two emerging sports to satisfy the required eight varsity intercollegiate sports involving all female teams. [Bylaw 20.9.7.1]
2. Schedule and play at least 60 percent of its football contests against members of Football Bowl Subdivision. Institutions shall schedule and play at least five regular season home contests against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents. [Bylaw 20.9.7.2]
3. Average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football contests over a rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.7.3]
4. Provide an average of at least 90 percent of the permissible maximum number of overall football grants-in-aid per year over a rolling two-year period. [Bylaw 20.9.7.4-(a)]
5. Annually offer a minimum of 200 athletics grants-in-aid or expend at least four million dollars on grants-in-aid to student-athletes in athletics programs. [Bylaw 20.9.7.4-(b)]
There you have it, more to it than you think. So its not about geography and who could best fit into a conference or who has championships. There are strict guidelines. The first and most obvious to check is the attendance. Since it is a rolling two year period, anyone who average 15,000 people or more per home game in 2008 or 2009 is eligible. Here they are according to NCAA attendance figures:
Montana
Appalachian State
Yale
Delaware
Old Dominion
North Carolina A&T
South Carolina State
Georgia Southern
North Dakota State
Jackson State
James Madison
Youngstown State
Northern Iowa
Norfolk State
Southern University
Tennessee State
And that’s all she wrote. If your school isn’t on the list, I’m sorry, go to more home games. Any school not on this list simply does not meet the NCAA requirements to go from FCS to FBS. So even if UC Davis would be a good fit in the WAC, it ain’t happening unless they get 15,000 people per game at home.
Another interesting requirement is 16 varsity sports. Schools with nothing more than a football and basketball program are right out. I’ll leave it up to fans of each individual school named above to figure out if they qualify.
The last two are easy, just use your scholarships for all your sports. The one that’s not so easy? Schedule 5 home games a year against FBS teams. Here’s the predicament. You have to average good attendance. You have to get FBS schools to come play you. The only ones who will are usually bad teams. They don’t draw big crowds. Kind of a catch 22.
My guess is that currently, almost none of the schools there are meeting all of the requirements. Appalachian State certainly plays a lot of FBS teams, that’s for sure. But what other sports programs do they have? I don’t know. But with all this in mind, what are some likely scenarios?
Here’s likely scenario number one. It is more likely that the MWC invites Boise State into their conference than the Pac-10 inviting (and being accepted) Utah and BYU. They want to be a BCS conference. Boise State will get them there. But who else to help shore up the conference? Maybe Fresno State? Nevada? Who knows, but that leaves Montana ripe for the picking of either the MWC or the WAC.
And what about back East? The Big Ten will likely get at least one or two Big East schools. What do they do? Villanova can’t make the FCS to FBS jump. None of their basketball schools can. Do they snag Appalachian State? Delaware? Maybe Georgia Southern or South Carolina State?
There are certainly a lot of scenarios that can play out here. Just keep in mind, there’s more to getting into the FBS than winning games. Total athletics and attendance are crucial requirements to become FBS eligible, then there’s always scheduling to worry about. So with all that in mind, most FCS schools are not jumping up to the FBS anytime soon.
So if I had to make a prediction, here’s how I would see things going. The Big Ten is making the first move in this expansion stuff, hands down. When they do, everyone else will make their moves. Chances are some of the Big 12 is going to the Big Ten. That means either the Big 12 has all of its teams poached, or they try to stay alive by getting some MWC teams or an FCS team or two. In that instance, its definitely Montana or North Dakota State.
The MWC may just expand anyway, in which case its definitely Montana.
Should the Big Ten steal Big East teams, then Appalachian State will either get into the Big East or C-USA after the Big East robs them blind. We may even see Delaware get in to the Big East as a football school.
As for any other FCS programs, only Georgia Southern or Youngstown State seem to be likely candidates to make any moves soon. This because I think Temple will be going back to the Big East and the MAC could snag Youngstown State.
Either way, this moving around from FCS to FBS takes time. There are two year transition periods after you make the requirements anyway, which require advance time simply because of the scheduling requirements. So the earliest I see any FCS team in the FBS is 2014 and I see it being Montana and Appalachian State.
What do you think?
Comments
All the schools listed meet the minimum 6/8 requirements of varsity sports (6 men sports/8 women sports). Some just barely, as the NCAA recognizes Indoor & Outdoor track as two separate sports. Old Dominion competes in Sailing, which is not an NCAA sport (according to the NCAA website).
Montana has 6/8
App State has 10/10
Delaware has 11/11…their website only had outdoor track for men, both outdoor & indoor for women.
Old Dominion has 8/8
NC A&T has 6/9
SC State has 6/10
Georgia Southern has 6/9
ND State has 8/8
Jackson State has 8/10
James Madison has 6/12
Youngstown State has 8/10
Northern Iowa has 7/10
Norfolk State has 7/8
Southern U has 7/9
Tenn State has 7/8
Yale is off the table right off. They have always been eligible to be an FBS/IA team based on attendance. In fact they were one of the few who were offered a chance to remain in 1A when 1AA was formed…but they chose to remain with their Ivy League brethren. But, since no Ivy League schools offer athletic scholarships, they’d be eliminated by rule 4 & 5 unless they changed their policy.
As to requirement #2 – this is usually attained in the interim period, when the school first moves up. A period of two years or so, the school is not eligible for bowl games, is allowed to complete any contractual obligations to FCS schools, while beefing up it’s schedule of FBS opponents.
Requirement #3 & 4 are also attainable once they move up, and are allowed to offer more scholarships then they are in the FCS. If after their interim period, they haven’t attained the necessary level, they’d go back to FCS (which I don’t believe has ever happened).
It is highly unlikely that ANY school will move up and immediately be a part of a conference…in the past, almost all teams come up and spend a few years as an independent. But as to which conference benefits from adding a FCS school…none of them (at least none of the AQ conferences). The Big East needs teams, yes, but adding one or two former FCS teams hardly makes their conference stronger, and will likely force them to sacrifice their AQ status…whereas adding East Carolina, or UCF, or Army & Navy would be more likely to bolster their roster. Same goes for the Mountain West. They are desperate to achieve AQ status, and the best scenario for them would be a dissolved Big 12, where they might be able to convince some former Big 12 North schools to join their conference, maybe even a Texas school. The only conferences that would openly embrace adding FCS schools would be the Sunbelt (perennially the worst conference), the WAC (who got castrated this year with the departure of Boise State, Fresno State & San Diego State and Hawaii possibly looking to go independent), C-USA (who will likely lose teams to the Big East) and the MAC.
You are most definitely leaving out a monster, that is, Liberty University. Their football team has faired exceptionally well over the past several seasons and is averaging 15,000 per home game. Additionally, the stadium is under construction to seat 30,000 in just two years and plans are to build onto that for a future 60,000 seat stadium. No one in FCS football has a 30,000 seat stadium much less a 60,000 seat stadium. My guess is that LU isn’t going to be an exception. Not to mention that Liberty just hired an evaluator to tell them what they need to move up. Thoughts?
App State sponsors 19 varsity sports and meets the 200 total scholarship requirement. We averaged just over 29,000 per home game this season. It is the 6th consecutive season the Mountaineers averaged more than 23,000 per home game. The school is currently in the process of conducting a FBS study and the results will be made public in June of 2011. Our new athletics center is on par with many BCS schools. You can go to goasu.com for more info.
I think the whole world knows that Jacksonville State (Alabama) is going to move up as soon as the freeze is lifted. They didn’t spend 64 million dollars upgrading their stadium because it helped them at FCS level.
I think Southern, Jackson State, and Grambling State need to try to go to the Sun Belt tthe location and attendance will help them
Georgia Southern and App. State to the Big East would make sense if the Big East would like to expand.
I think that Villanova can make the jump. There won the FCS championship which mean that they are able to compete with some of FBS schools. They would be in the Big East since they are members already which is a BCS conference which can make more money from BCS revenue sharing, and they can get money to get started through basketball because the basktball racks decent amount of money playing in the Big East. Villanova can make the leap but it will cost some money and they can make the transition to FBS in two to three years.
Texas State will be the first ones to move. All they need to do is get 15,000 two years in a row.
1. What conference doesn’t want a Texas tie?
2. They meet all requirments other than the 15k but are expanding the stadium next year to 27k and then eventually 35k by 2015.
3. Located right between San Antonio and Austin
4. 5th largest University in Texas bigger than Tech
5. Natural rivals could be North Texas in the Sun Belt or Houston SMU UTEP CUSA & UTSA (who also want to move to FBS)
6 Tx State won 2 natioal championships in Div 2.
7. Have a large Basketball arena as well 8,000 this is the real test to have a profitable Bball team to get to March Madness. This can happen with better recruits and coaching.
ok so the requirements listed above are the standard!! so how is a school like South Alabama , who just began fielding a football team in 2009 , already making the jump to fbs??yes they do have the required sports teams but the attendance average was from one season. they are slated for full membership to the sun belt for 2012-2013!! how do you explain that!!! they did not make your list btw!!!
I dont think Richmond has any interest in moving up. Their attendance is terrible, and their new stadium only holds around 5,000. Delaware and App State are good guesses. JMU has plans for a big stadium and good support, but its hard to get to, and the rest of their sports program is very average. ODU would be a great fit, but they’re just getting started, as someone mentioned. Though they are moving fast with a great stadium great support and good mens & womens basketball too. So my guesses would be Delaware, App State or Old Dominion, but I’m in the south. If UMass or Villanova can work out a deal, I would think they’d be in the Big East/FBS before anyone else in FCS. They just need to fix the attendance problems.
I would disagree with most people here. ODU JUST got a new football team. They are still playing D2 opponents, and there is absolutely no way they could handle a jump for another 10+ years. App State would be logical, as everyone remembers the upset at Ann Arbor, but personally I don’t think the facilities are quite up to where they need to be. One key word lakesbison mentioned is that NDSU WAS at the top of the FCS, never made a championship, and are becoming a pushover in their conference.
One team I could see moving up is Montana. They have the supports, certainly the recruits (they get plenty of transfers from D1-A teams) and definitely an eye for movement upwards. Good fit for MWC.
Another team I could see moving is Delaware. They play in a premiere conference in FCS play, they have the stadium, which has plans for expansion (27,000), the facilities, and pretty decent location. They have a hard time picking up recruits, but I swear they have a decent QB every year taking snaps, just ask Joe Flacco. Good fit for Big East/ACC
The last team I see moving up is James Madison. They are great team tucked in the mountains of Virginia, playing in the CAA (same as Delaware, Villanova, UMASS, etc.), again the premiere conference of FCS. They won a NC in 2004, playoff appearances every year since then, and have excellent home support. They are expanding their stadium to 30K with an option to further expand to 50K+. Good fit for Big East/ACC/C-USA East
These teams would have the best chance currently to move up, other teams just don’t have the support, or just don’t fit.
You NDSU fans need to wake up and realize you guys have done NOTHING since joining the MVFC, NORTHING at all. Southern Illinois would make a lot more sense to move up. They are loaded in football and basketball and with the new stadium going up, attendance will rise as well.
Until NDSU actually wins in the MVFC and makes the FCS playoffs, then maybe you can talk about moving up, but what FBS conference would want a mediocre program like your’s?
There is a sleeping giant on your list and that would be Old Dominion University. Here are 6 reasons why:
1. it’s a large public university (over 23,000 students)
2. Located in Norfolk, VA, the 36th biggest MSA, without any professional sports team or events to compete with
3. In a recruiting hot bed (757 area). Athlon sports states it is the most talented area code in the nation (http://www.athlonsports.com/feature/16431/the-most-talented-area-code)
4. Excellent academics, offering 70 bachelor’s, 59 master’s, and 41 doctoral degrees
5. Geographical location. ODU would be a natural fit in the ACC, Big East, SEC, Atlantic 10, or even Conference USA.
6. And the biggest reason, excellent athletics. ODU has 28 national championships in various sports since 1969 (side note: in-state rival Va Tech has never won ANY national championship). Only 9 schools have more national championships in woman’s athletics than ODU. How’s that for Title IX? ODU has won 47 CAA championships since 1991, has produced 33 Olympians, 5 Olympic gold medals, 4 silver, and 7 bronze medals.
So how does ODU’s football team fit into the equation? In their first year of football last season, they went 9-2, best ever for a first season in the NCAA. They sold 14,500 season tickets and had to turn people away because their stadium currently only seats 20,000. They will sell out every game this year. They have designs for a stadium expansion of 30,000 or 45,000 seats that can be completed by 2013. Do you think they would be able to sell out a 50,000 seat stadium if BCS schools came to town? Definitely yes. Can they compete? They are the major school in the nation’s most talented recruiting area, so yes!
NDSU is the logical choice to go FBS. NDSU was #1 for 2 years in a row in the FCS, beat 3 FBS teams, and lost 2 other FBS games by 1 point.
NDSU would have 23,000-25,000/game, sold out and loud, not 25,000 in a 50,000 seat stadium.
NDSU has a new president FROM THE BIG 12 (texas A & M) a football coach from NEBRASKA.
NDSU and MONTANA are natural rivals and would make amazing travel partners, NDSU has made the NCAA’s in Basketball, Softball twice, Volleyball and Track and Field. Amazing baseball facilities and over 300,000 people within 20 miles of FARGO. NDSU IS IT!
I think that App. State will try to make an attempt to the Big East and Montana going to the MWC or the WAC. another school that wouldn’t surprise me to try to find their way into changing into FSC is the Richmond Spiders. If the Big East get robbed thourghly don’t be suprised to see Villanova, App. State, Richmond, UMass, and/or James Madison name starts to surface. Money will make you overlook some criterias. Montana is almost a lock to make the jump in a year or two.
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You omitted Florida A&M from the list and their attendance is much higher than most of the teams listed. They routinely are at or near the top of fcs attendance.