FCS Scholarship question

[CatMom]

Ok, so we are not allowed to play for anything next year because we will have 11 more scholarships. However, there are currently conferences in the FCS that do not carry 63 scholarships, am I right? And, if I recall, there are teams that have no scholarships.

Why is it then that 63 scholly teams can qualify when playing against these other conferences? Are the lesser, or no, scholarships by choice/necessity, or design? If not, isn't that an unfair advantage to some of those conferences on a routine basis?

Just wondering...

[danefan]

Ok, so we are not allowed to play for anything next year because we will have 11 more scholarships. However, there are currently conferences in the FCS that do not carry 63 scholarships, am I right? And, if I recall, there are teams that have no scholarships.

Why is it then that 63 scholly teams can qualify when playing against these other conferences? Are the lesser, or no, scholarships by choice/necessity, or design? If not, isn't that an unfair advantage to some of those conferences on a routine basis?

Just wondering...

FCS has only a maximum scholarship limit - not a minimum. Offering less than the maximum is the choice of many FCS teams.

FBS has both maximum and a minimum.

[UAalum72]

IIRC by policy the Pioneer and Ivy Leagues provide athletes only need-based aid that is available to all students, in the case of the Ivy this is practically a full ride for many players; the Patriot League gives need-based aid but the athletic departments buy out loans made by the colleges, so the NCAA counts them as equivalencies, and most PL teams(excdept Georgetown) count about 50-60; the Ivy and Patriot have 'Academic Indexes' that limit the athletes to the range of their general student population; the Northeast Conference, once non-scholarship, has allowed schollies for about six years, and by policy limits teams to a number increasing to 40 by 2012; it's thought that by necessity some if not many MEAC and SWAC schools don't fund the full number.

56.7 equivalencies (90% of the maximum 63) are needed for an FCS game to be a bowl counter to an FBS team, the 63 may be divided among up to 85 players.

FBS teams may give full rides only (no partials) and must average 76.5 per year (90% of the maximum 85)

Remember I-AA was created as a way to limit football expenses for Division I colleges which weren't drawing huge crowds and getting bowl payouts. Not sure how you figure limited scholarships are an advantage; while they technically reduce athletic expenses, they limit the pool of recruits or require a different kind of recruiting to get players to attend the college.