NCAA football

[guinpen]

The recent announcement of Delaware moving to 1A is just another baby step toward the needed restructure of NCAA football. At one time 1AA and 1A provided a decent boundary between the big boys and not so big boys. Sure there were 1A leagues that were 1A in name only, can we say mac, but for the most part it worked.

No surprise but money has changed the landscape and now the gap within 1A is out of control. The real big boys have positioned their leagues partially by cherry picking from other leagues and securing crazy tv deals so the gap between them and the pretend 1A leagues is massive. So many schools from 1AA and even D2 have moved to 1A that the bottom of 1A is so diluted it is a joke.

The lower tier 1A schools can boast that they are 1A and for sure they do make twice the money for playing a money game as a 1AA school would. Pride will never allow any of these leagues/school ( mac ) to move to 1A.

Will the NCAA ever create another level to separate the real big boys from the wannabe big boys, will nothing change or will the real big boys leave the NCAA?

[hof222]

fairly soon it will be 64 teams in 4 conferences each broken in 2 divisions .the division champs will play for the conference titlle and the four left will play for the championship. no ncaa. the rest will have to figure out what to do.

[Wick250]

The only reason that the P5 powers put up with the NCAA is their desire to also dominate the basketball tournament money. I wonder when the NCAA basketball contract with the networks runs out. Also I wonder what kind of language is contained in that contract. If the P5 powers secede from the NCAA, they would start their own basketball tournament and the networks would follow. If that happens, the NCAA is completely out of business.

[ysu1982]

Quinpen

I have been saying the same thing for years, but nothing seems to change on a large scale. When are schools like Akron and Kent going to move to 1AA or another future lower division? I have been saying for years that Akron and Kent cannot keep spending the amount they do on football and losing money, but they do. When and what will be the tipping point for major change?

[YsuPride]

It cost much money to move up to FBS.

[peteonastick]

Possible solution based on English Soccer. One level of football amongst all FBs and FCS teams. Conferences regionalized.  Then treat it the same as Premier League Soccer. You finish below a certain percent in conference you get relegated to division 3 years (or some agreed upon amount) until you finish in top 2 in your conference to move back to conference. I think it is possible.

Go Guins! 

[guinpen]

I believe that if the NCAA wants to pretend to be in charge, they will create another division for the pretenders and hope that will pacify the big boys. 

Logic tells me that the big boys really only care about the big boys and money. Matter of time until they bid adieu to the NCAA. They hold all the cards!

[penguinpower]

Here's my take for what it's worth.

The FBS Power 2 will likely break off from the NCAA (similar to the NAIA).  When I say power 2 , I'm referring to B1G  and SEC similar to the NFL AFC and NFC. This will leave a watered down field of conferences that will be the current defacto version of the FCS.  These teams will participate in bowl games but the power 2 will take the Major New Year's Day Bowls and rotate them for their 12 team playoff.

The NCAA isn't going to allow the formation of another FBS conference, so you will have to be invited.......and that's exactly what many of the teams in the East Coast have done.

There are something like 132 teams in the FCS, but who is left that can really compete? Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, JMU and now Delaware are leaving.  That means that Villanova is the only CAA member that can compete and Maybe Furman in the So Con.  The OVC lost Jacksonville State and took the least competitive MVFC Teams.

So who's actually left to compete for a national title?  The MVFC and the Big Sky and that's it. Maybe the SWAC on a long shot but only 1 team per decade.

As I've said before, we are way better than 90% of the FCS. It's not crazy that the MVFC got 6 bids, the competition just isn't there anymore.  There are more teams like NDSU and SDSU looking for an invitation to an FBS conference (like the Mountain West).

A lot of these teams are just making the jump without an actual fit (i.e. Delaware). There's so much disparity in the FacS today as well.  We have teams in the NEC with 45 scholarships that can be beaten by D2 and NAIA  teams  and still get an autobid into the playoffs.  Then you have teams like SDSU this year, who could beat every team in the Sunbelt, American Conference and half the B1G.  In fact, I would argue they could potentially win the B1G West.....and there's evidence to support that;  last year SDSU wasn't as good and played Iowa. They lost 7-3 at Iowa but Iowa didn't score a TD.  They got 7 points with 2 safeties and a field goal.  SDSU is built like a B1G team and they're drastically different from the bottom of the FCS but the same goes for YSU.  We could beat many FBS "in name only" schools.

So the FCS is going to be a 2 league division (when it comes to competition). 

However, at least for some period of time, teams like JMU that have made the jump will be able to make the 12 team playoff against the legitimate contenders in the FBS because they will take the best team from the group of 5.  That may be why a lot of these teams want to go.  (That being said JMU isn't eligible for bowl games or playoffs yet).  My point is that there's national attention and notoriety given to the teams that can compete and these schools want the national spotlight.

[goodnews]

What if YSU was in a football conference with these teams?
Georgia Southern
Appalachian State
Coastal Carolina
JMU
Liberty
Marshall
Old Dominion
Delaware
Villanova

[nova75]

That would be a nice conference

[goodnews]

Final conference week games as follows
YSU Marshall
Nova Delaware
Liberty ODU
JMU App State
GSU Coastal Carolina

[nova75]

I like it. Keeps the regional rivalries. Good competition. You should be the commissioner

[Dmorton]

That would be a hell of completive conference

[Double ET]

That would be a hell of completive conference

I think only YSU and Nova are FCS. The rest teams are all FBS.