B10 no longer scheduling FCS teams

[clenz]

According to reports, Wisconsin AD, Barry Alverez, the Big 10 is starting the trend that many FCS athletic directors have feared would be coming - no longer scheduling FCS teams.

No word on when the takes place, I'd assume after this year if there are any FCS games on the schedule for the teams, and they will be working to get future FCS games replaced with SBC/MAC/CUSA teams.


Not good news for the FCS...I would bet that more conferences start to follow suit shortly.

The signed contract between UNI and Iowa for 2018 is likely as good as gone....and I'd bet that the 2014 game is likely gone as well.

[kalm]

There appears to be a major realignment on the horizon. The BCS conferences seem to want to break away, but they still need filler games with the likes of C'USA? Are there enough FBS teams to support their OOC schedules?

It would seem the upper echelon FCS programs/conferences would likely move up into the 2nd division of non-BCS conferences, either creating an FCS II division or forcing the FCS have-nots to move down to DII.

Interesting.

[dbackjon]

This goes along with them going to a 9 game conference schedule.

Lower FBS teams will still schedule FCS teams - only way to get OOC home games.

[clenz]

This goes along with them going to a 9 game conference schedule.

Lower FBS teams will still schedule FCS teams - only way to get OOC home games.

In the case of Iowa they could have also cut schools like Arkansas State....


The mandate of it being FCS likely means something is coming...maybe not a huge realignment, but something.

[dbackjon]

This goes along with them going to a 9 game conference schedule.

Lower FBS teams will still schedule FCS teams - only way to get OOC home games.

In the case of Iowa they could have also cut schools like Arkansas State....


The mandate of it being FCS likely means something is coming...maybe not a huge realignment, but something.

Not neccesarily. With one less OOC game to schedule, and SOS component of the new "playoff", it become more important to schedule OOC tougher and smarter. Minnesota, Indiana, etc losing to FCS teams hurts the entire conference in the new model.

[CID1990]

I really could care less. The paycheck is nice, but I fail to see many advantages in having a real college football team play against a big university-sponsored professional football team.

[SDHornet]

Meh, they'll just replace FCS matchups with more MAC games. Like Jon said, the lower tier FBS programs will still need home OOC games cause the P12/B10/SEC will rarely travel to an "inferior" opponent.

[SuperHornet]

Some Hornet fans still have a dream of beating Notre Dame. At least THAT potential matchup isn't affected by the Big 10's bogus decision. They're just scared of another App catching them with their pants down. I wouldn't put it past UNI to pull it off against Iowa, either. Iowa fans must be sighing in relief over that....

[SDHornet]

Some Hornet fans still have a dream of beating Notre Dame. At least THAT potential matchup isn't affected by the Big 10's bogus decision. They're just scared of another App catching them with their pants down. I wouldn't put it past UNI to pull it off against Iowa, either. Iowa fans must be sighing in relief over that....

I have yet to meet a Hornet fan that dreams of playing ND, yet alone beating them. Do you read the things you post?

[SuperHornet]

I never claimed YOU did, SD. The vast majority of Hornet fans (probably ALL of them, BTW) who would love to play ND are all huge fans of Big Cat, who brought up the idea in the first place. Did you forget that?

[SDHornet]

I never claimed YOU did, SD. The vast majority of Hornet fans (probably ALL of them, BTW) who would love to play ND are all huge fans of Big Cat, who brought up the idea in the first place. Did you forget that?

I think the vast majority of Hornet fans realize ND doesn't schedule FCS programs.

[SuperHornet]

Ohio State never scheduled FCS programs, either (at least, not in the State of Ohio), at least not until they got a FCS HC.

[Keeper]

I suspect that the ACC may follow suit, but not the SEC or Big12.
ACC also needs to improve their SOS resumes to enhance a selection to the future playoffs.
MVC teams may have to travel further for $ game or double up on MAC teams.

Otherwise, scheduling is too difficult for "BCS" teams now to have the desired number of home games,
unless forced to via a complete division or NCAA breakaway.

[Gil Dobie]

I suspect that the ACC may follow suit, but not the SEC or Big12.
ACC also needs to improve their SOS resumes to enhance a selection to the future playoffs.
MVC teams may have to travel further for $ game or double up on MAC teams.

Otherwise, scheduling is too difficult for "BCS" teams now to have the desired number of home games,
unless forced to via a complete division or NCAA breakaway.

The Big 12 is fairly close with Iowa St, Kansas and Kansas State all on recent NDSU schedules.

[SuperHornet]

Those are all potential (though clearly nowhere near guaranteed) wins for NDSU. But then, NDSU is a cut above the average FCS. Hard to admit, but true....

[dal4018]

Ohio State never scheduled FCS programs, either (at least, not in the State of Ohio), at least not until they got a FCS HC.

They fear teams like Applachian St pulling upsets like they did at Michigan.

[bluehenbillk]

In essence it's all about the playoff system - with only 4 teams in it until the mid 2020's - schedule strength is HUGE. 1-AA games will disappear quickly & even games against the MAC's, Sun Belts, C-USA's will be minimized. The B1G not only is going to at least 9 league games but they're looking at schedule alliances with other BCS leagues.

UD plays Navy this year & Pitt next year, I think that will be it for the Hens. We have Pitt on the 2019 slate as well but being real I don't see that game ever happening.

[WeberAlum02]

A source told ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg the ban could start in 2016, with several FCS games already on the books for 2014 and 2015. But it could be a gradual move with some schools stopping now and some stopping later, the source said.

[TheDancinMonarch]

Completely understandable. They save the money and get the wins against the weak sisters they just admitted, namely Maryland and Rutgers. And if there is a slip-up like the ND State win over Minnesota they just point to how tough their conference is. A win win situation.

[GannonFan]

In essence it's all about the playoff system - with only 4 teams in it until the mid 2020's - schedule strength is HUGE. 1-AA games will disappear quickly & even games against the MAC's, Sun Belts, C-USA's will be minimized. The B1G not only is going to at least 9 league games but they're looking at schedule alliances with other BCS leagues.

UD plays Navy this year & Pitt next year, I think that will be it for the Hens. We have Pitt on the 2019 slate as well but being real I don't see that game ever happening.

Yup, entirely about the playoffs. FBS teams win something like 95% of the games against FCS teams anyway, so the fear of losing is very, very small. But the fear of missing a playoff spot because of scheduling even just one FCS team is far greater. I'd expect every major FBS conference to follow suit.

[Aho Old Guy]

The Hillbillys return to the Big House for the 2014 opener.

Chuckles the AD must be on crack. We'll be lucky to hold them under 70 points.

[JohnStOnge]

We'll see but I doubt we'll see SEC teams stop scheduling FCS schools. Don't know about the Big 12.

The reason is money. I heard a lot of discussion of that being in LSU land. Bottom line is that non BCS bottom feeders are starting to ask for too much money to be the sacrificial lamb. Like I heard talk about that when LSU decided to start scheduling in State FCS teams starting with McNeese a few years back. Programs like Louisiana Tech and ULL were charging $1,000,000 to come in and LSU could get a school like McNeese State to come in for $350,000.

I really, really doubt that there will be too many circumstances in which playing a FCS team instead of playing a MAC or Sun Belt team makes the difference between a team getting into the playoffs or not. If you recall we've heard for many years that makes a difference in getting into the top two. But if it did it sure as heck wasn't much. Like Alabama got in with one loss after the 2011 season even though it played Georgia Southern while Oklahoma State was left out in spite of not playing an FCS teams. In 2003 LSU got in the BCS title game after having played Western Illinois while USC was left out after having played no FCS teams. I know people pointed to Miami playing McNeese State when Florida State got in over the Hurricanes after having lost to them in 2000 but I looked at that situation in detail and playing Louisiana Tech hurt Miami more than playing McNeese that year because of the way the power ratings consideration worked and the fact that Louisiana Tech finished rated lower than McNeese did in power ratings.

Whether fear of the unknown will cause "major" leagues other than the Big 10 to try to phase out FCS games remains to be seen. People don't know how the new "committee" will evaluate things. But my guess is that beating a Ball State vs. beating an Illinois State during the regular season making the difference between getting into the four team playoff or not would be an extremely rare occurrence if it ever happens at all.

[BlackFalkin]

I don't think they're will be a huge conference realignment again, however I do think;

#1 the BCS has already "broken away" from the fbs pack.
#2 the NCAA will want to drop the "FCS" division by encouraging elite/larger fan base fcs teams to move into non-BCS FBS conferences.(byproduct being an additional boost to the fan base) And placing the rest in D2.

Or...
#3 bc the college fb spotlight is obviously on BCS conferences, the NCAA should enforce MANDATED stadium capacity and attendance averages in non BCS FBS conferences. Thereby knocking lots of cellar dweller FBS teams into FCS. And the NCAA should MANDATE and ENFORCE stadium capacity and attendance numbers in the FCS and force non qualifiers to D2. Therefore adding serious strength and relevance back to the FCS.

[SDHornet]

^^^#2 and #3 ain't happenin'.

[JayJ79]

#2 the NCAA will want to drop the "FCS" division by encouraging elite/larger fan base fcs teams to move into non-BCS FBS conferences.(byproduct being an additional boost to the fan base) And placing the rest in D2.

Or...
#3 bc the college fb spotlight is obviously on BCS conferences, the NCAA should enforce MANDATED stadium capacity and attendance averages in non BCS FBS conferences. Thereby knocking lots of cellar dweller FBS teams into FCS. And the NCAA should MANDATE and ENFORCE stadium capacity and attendance numbers in the FCS and force non qualifiers to D2. Therefore adding serious strength and relevance back to the FCS.

Forcing schools to D2 would mean moving their MBB programs (and other sports) to D2 as well. And many schools would probably elect to drop football (or go non-scholly) before doing that.