FCS final

[guinpen]

Second half and not an exciting game at all

[YSUGO]

Second half and not an exciting game at all
[/quote


To be honest FCS as it’s made up is boring.

[penguinpower]

SDSU was the best team in the FCS.  They lose a lot next year.  But it appears that we did as well.

[YSUGO]

Bill I did some research they are retaining 18-20 guys I guess that could have left?  They want a 3 peat .  Another thing The rabbits didn’t have a NIL.  They just started a collective recently. 

[penguinpower]

Bill I did some research they are retaining 18-20 guys I guess that could have left?  They want a 3 peat .  Another thing The rabbits didn’t have a NIL.  They just started a collective recently.

Yes but they lose a lot of 6th year seniors

[Wick250]

Most of the SDSU All-Americans or all-conference players have used up their eligibility. Also, the announcers today said that the stud running back is declaring for the NFL draft. And there is a rumor that the SDSU OC is heading to the big time and likely to take the quarterback with him. I don't mean to downplay the gap between them and us. It is formidable. But they will not be as dominant next season.

The "professionalization" of college sports might end up helping us more than it hurts us. We have seen the last of  the FCS super teams. Under the new rules, all of those SDSU stars would have been gobbled up by the P5 and paid much more than SDSU could handle. You will never again see legitimate pro prospects playing in the FCS as seniors; they will all be stolen and paid very well after one or two seasons at our level.

Our Penguin Collective NIL won't shield us from raids, but it will give us an advantage over 90% of FCS schools who have nothing.

[penguinpower]

Most of the SDSU All-Americans or all-conference players have used up their eligibility. Also, the announcers today said that the stud running back is declaring for the NFL draft. And there is a rumor that the SDSU OC is heading to the big time and likely to take the quarterback with him. I don't mean to downplay the gap between them and us. It is formidable. But they will not be as dominant next season.

The "professionalization" of college sports might end up helping us more than it hurts us. We have seen the last of  the FCS super teams. Under the new rules, all of those SDSU stars would have been gobbled up by the P5 and paid much more than SDSU could handle. You will never again see legitimate pro prospects playing in the FCS as seniors; they will all be stolen and paid very well after one or two seasons at our level.

Our Penguin Collective NIL won't shield us from raids, but it will give us an advantage over 90% of FCS schools who have nothing.

I think this post is prescient.  I took believe that this is what will happen.  It's more pronounced in baseball right now (my opinion based on impact to the sport with a smaller number of players on a team vs football).  I have personal knowledge in this area.  In baseball they expect the D2 kids that should have been D1 to move up and the D1 kids that should have been D2 to move down, sort of a natural reshuffling of the sport that wouldn't have happened if coaches and recruiting services had gotten it right in the recruiting process).

I think the same thing will happen in FCS, less the kids that are loyal to a program or a program that can actually win a national title.

[guinpen]

Nice post Wick,

Money is ruining college sports. Not saying that the players do not deserve something for their efforts, above and beyond a free education, but the current setup just cannot be the best answer.  Building a program will be a thing of the past, loyalty is gone. If you do not have a lot of NIL money you will be lucky to stumble into a playoff game every now and then.

[YSUGO]

Bill I did some research they are retaining 18-20 guys I guess that could have left?  They want a 3 peat .  Another thing The rabbits didn’t have a NIL.  They just started a collective recently.

Yes but they lose a lot of 6th year seniors

They will have 34 Seniors next year

But 16 seniors currently plan to return to be 2024 super seniors. Add in 18 juniors this season, and that’s 34 seniors for the 2024 squad.

However, the next opponent comes Monday.

The transfer portal closed in early January for non-grad transfers, but SDSU and Montana players get an extended 5-day window starting Monday due to playing in this game.

A question among SDSU fans this weekend was “Is Gronowski coming back?”

The junior has two more years of eligibility left. Gronowski already has two championship wins and is 37-2 as a full-game starter, 36-1 vs. FCS opponents. His offensive coordinator Zach Lujan is reportedly going to be the next OC for Big Ten member Northwestern, which is near Gronowski’s hometown. And we know how much money standout QBs can make from NIL collectives.

A day after Gronowski won the Walter Payton Award as the best FCS offensive player, he was awarded his second straight Most Outstanding Player trophy for the championship game. As he got the trophy, SDSU fans started to chant “One more year.”

The quarterback is the centerpiece of a team. With or without Gronowski, SDSU has plenty of other key pieces back next fall and will have a veteran roster. As far as we currently know for standout players returning outside the QB position: RB Amar Johnson and WR Griffin Wilde look to be the next All-American-level talent, Gus Miller will anchor the o-line after winning the 2023 Rimington Award as the best FCS center, All-American LB Adam Bock said he’s returning, All-Conference CB Dalys Beanum is coming back, as is All-Conference safety Tucker Large. Other starters and rotational guys will also be back.

SDSU is still going to be pretty dang good next season, and it has shown the ability to reload when it loses senior talent.

The current age of college football sees plenty of roster overhaul. Some years the transfer portal will hit you hard. In other years you won’t lose anyone and the portal benefits you with some nice additions.

SDSU’s 2023 team is a prime example of what happens when the stars stick together.

The Jacks were special for many reasons this season. Whether it was the overall talent level, the defense, the dominating wins, or the playoff performances. Perhaps most special was the roster staying mostly intact to accomplish something great.

Maybe they’ll be the last team like this in the portal era. Or maybe they’ll set a precedent. Hey, SDSU doesn’t have to look far up Interstate 29 to see NDSU’s star players sticking together for a 2024 run.

SDSU was an elite team in 2023. A mark of an elite program is reloading when you lose a historic senior class. And this year’s Jackrabbit senior class will be remembered as one of the better ones in FCS history.

[Wick250]

Excellent research, Go. The transfer portal has already caused a great deal of chaos for all levels of college football. 2024 will be even more destructive as this will be the first season when wealthy programs can openly pay players under the new rules.

I wonder how many of the studs at NDSU would have stayed there for four or five years over the past decade if Big Ten programs were offering them 50-75K to defect and join them. Even the four comparatively wealthy FCS programs (NDSU, SDSU, Montana, Montana State)  are probably going to get outbid by the big boys for their blue chip talent. College football will be unrecognizable in two or three years and not for the better.

[goodnews]

The Athletic Department has their work cut out for them: 
Where do you get the money to compete and stay relevant? 
What if the money games dry up for YSU after 2027? 
How do you persuade a marginal FBS player to come to YSU if he is getting paid even a small amount to just be on the roster at the bigger school? 
How do you improve gameday atmosphere at Stambaugh? 
Where do you invest the money and how? 
Mens Basketball may need to play 4-5 games against superior teams just for the rest of the programs! 
Revenues will be at premium like never before! 

[YsuPride]

Men's basketball according to Calhoun said the league has something to say in how non conference games are scheduled.   Not that easy getting the bigger schools to play us.  Calhoun said the ideal is too play 2 money games a year.

[goodnews]

Oakland plays like 5 or 6 money games a year so someone is full of sh*t!! Not to mention they are always at the top half of the league or better.

[Double ET]

Oakland plays like 5 or 6 money games a year so someone is full of sh*t!! Not to mention they are always at the top half of the league or better.

If I recall correctly , when Rollie M. took over the Cleveland State MBB program, he wanted it to go big time (before joining the Horizon League). In order to recruit good players, first couple of years, he played over 70% of the games on the road against big time programs.
Apparently , these teams wanted more home games with the mid-majors. Scheduling these games didn’t seems to be a problem for CSU.

Unless things have changed significantly, I don’t know why we have had so much problems scheduling these away games since it would be a relatively easy win for them (UNLESS WE ARE REALLY GOOD).
If we demanded a return game (home-home), things might be different.

[YSUGO]

The Athletic Department has their work cut out for them: 
Where do you get the money to compete and stay relevant? 
What if the money games dry up for YSU after 2027? 
How do you persuade a marginal FBS player to come to YSU if he is getting paid even a small amount to just be on the roster at the bigger school? 
How do you improve gameday atmosphere at Stambaugh? 
Where do you invest the money and how? 
Mens Basketball may need to play 4-5 games against superior teams just for the rest of the programs! 
Revenues will be at premium like never before!

The next five years, why is she athletics as many questions on a direction that it head. With the new president who knows what could happen was it in favor of a politician to run university but it’s about bringing in dollars and donations. My question is, is he there to build a university up or has a plan to change the universities path we really don’t know, who knows the current leader of the athletics department could retire soon and then there might be a change in the thought process there, but to answer your question about how to raise revenue and draw interest first thing is we need to change the atmosphere at the stadium what would drive  What about enclosing the one end zone make out like other universities or they have club seating for parties and alcohol related activities. What about the athletic department tying in with Ryan productions that does the Covell events and have a concert after the game with up-and-coming acts that wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. or I’m just thinking out of a box why not build a large Ferris wheel or something that sort in the corner for the kids and family we have to think outside the box I noticed stuff sounds stupid but you have to have an entertainment experience to go with the game. I know diehards think well all you gotta do is win and they will come. The problem is since the 90s run times of changed people have things to do and going to a boring Youngstown state versus Valparaiso isn’t going to cut it Conference due lack of a rivalry are boring to the average casual fan anyways, just some thoughts my guess is what we know of FCS division will be completely different in five years. Do you do all the chaos happening now.