Another FCS team is moving up to the FBS

[BGSU33]

It looks like Coastal Carolina will be the next school making the move up from the FCS to the FBS. With UAB announcing it will be reinstating its football program, the move by Coastal Carolina would make it 130 teams in the FBS (once UAB is back too). For those who support the idea about possibly moving down to the FCS, consider that in the past decade or so, over 20 teams from the FCS have moved up to the FBS ranks - INCLUDING - three of the top five teams with the most NCAA Championships! What team has won the most FCS (I-AA) titles? Georgia Southern with 6, and they just joined the FBS a year ago (Sun Belt Conference) along with the team that won the third most FCS titles (3) in Appalachian State a year ago as well (Also in the Sun Belt Conference). Other notable teams that won FBS titles and made the move up: Marshall with 2 and Western Kentucky, Boise State and UMass with 1. With the exception of UMass whose administration has questioned the move, the jump to the FBS has certainly paid off for some of those other programs.

The proof is in the pudding. Nearly every FCS school wants (or wishes) it was in the FBS, similarly to how many Group of Five schools would love to be Power Five schools (see TCU and Utah). The exposure for FBS schools is much greater, the payouts for money games vs Power Five schools are WAY bigger for FBS schools over FCS schools, the TV contracts/payouts are much greater (most don't even apply to FCS teams) and recruits want to play for FBS teams over FCS teams, similarly to how most kids want to play for Power Five schools over the Group of Five schools. This is essentially why you don't see FBS teams move down. The trade off is crippling. Yes, it's expensive and difficult for non-Power Five teams to play FBS football, but it's just as difficult (sometimes even moreso) for some schools playing at the FCS level in many cases because of the lack of finances that are available to FBS teams (bigger guaranteed game payouts, TV contracts) even in the MAC.

I love....no, make that LOVE....BG being in the FBS. Yeah I know we're not a Power Five school but you know what, I don't care. I love the MAC and I love when we knock off Power Five teams - in anything! And for any school thinking of stepping down to the FCS, don't think for a second that a school like James Madison, Jacksonvilke State, Liberty or Eastern Kentucky (all have expressed interest in coming up to the FBS with JMU, JSU and LU having made HUGE stadium renovations) wouldn't trample over that team on its way out it get in to the FBS. Right now North Dakota State is the FCS's darling (and that Montana vs NDSU game the other day was great!). But when teams that are contending for and actually winning FCS titles are moving up to the FBS where they'll likely never ever play for or even contend for a championship ever again, I think it says about all you need to hear. It's where they want to be. These teams are trading FCS titles simple to be a run-of-the-mill team as part of the FBS. It's that important.

[jpfalcon09]

It looks like Coastal Carolina will be the next school making the move up from the FCS to the FBS. With UAB announcing it will be reinstating its football program, the move by Coastal Carolina would make it 130 teams in the FBS (once UAB is back too). For those who support the idea about possibly moving down to the FCS, consider that in the past decade or so, over 20 teams from the FCS have moved up to the FBS ranks - INCLUDING - three of the top five teams with the most NCAA Championships! What team has won the most FCS (I-AA) titles? Georgia Southern with 6, and they just joined the FBS a year ago (Sun Belt Conference) along with the team that won the third most FCS titles (3) in Appalachian State a year ago as well (Also in the Sun Belt Conference). Other notable teams that won FBS titles and made the move up: Marshall with 2 and Western Kentucky, Boise State and UMass with 1. With the exception of UMass whose administration has questioned the move, the jump to the FBS has certainly paid off for some of those other programs.

The proof is in the pudding. Nearly every FCS school wants (or wishes) it was in the FBS, similarly to how many Group of Five schools would love to be Power Five schools (see TCU and Utah). The exposure for FBS schools is much greater, the payouts for money games vs Power Five schools are WAY bigger for FBS schools over FCS schools, the TV contracts/payouts are much greater (most don't even apply to FCS teams) and recruits want to play for FBS teams over FCS teams, similarly to how most kids want to play for Power Five schools over the Group of Five schools. This is essentially why you don't see FBS teams move down. The trade off is crippling. Yes, it's expensive and difficult for non-Power Five teams to play FBS football, but it's just as difficult (sometimes even moreso) for some schools playing at the FCS level in many cases because of the lack of finances that are available to FBS teams (bigger guaranteed game payouts, TV contracts) even in the MAC.

I love....no, make that LOVE....BG being in the FBS. Yeah I know we're not a Power Five school but you know what, I don't care. I love the MAC and I love when we knock off Power Five teams - in anything! And for any school thinking of stepping down to the FCS, don't think for a second that a school like James Madison, Jacksonvilke State, Liberty or Eastern Kentucky (all have expressed interest in coming up to the FBS with JMU, JSU and LU having made HUGE stadium renovations) wouldn't trample over that team on its way out it get in to the FBS. Right now North Dakota State is the FCS's darling (and that Montana vs NDSU game the other day was great!). But when teams that are contending for and actually winning FCS titles are moving up to the FBS where they'll likely never ever play for or even contend for a championship ever again, I think it says about all you need to hear. It's where they want to be. These teams are trading FCS titles simple to be a run-of-the-mill team as part of the FBS. It's that important.

Montana and NDSU will be FBS before too long, IMO. I also believe that the more mid-majors that move to FBS, the more it benefits a fair playoff system where one (or more) teams finally gets a seat at the table. That's likely many years away but the G5 is eventually going to have enough power in numbers to raise enough of a stink about it.

[Flipper]

There's no financial incentive to move down. In theory, you won't have to fund 44 scholarships, (22 x 2) , but you won't see nearly as much revenue from TV and "money games" not to mention whatever ancillary benefit you can impute from mid week TV.

[BGSU33]

There's no financial incentive to move down. In theory, you won't have to fund 44 scholarships, (22 x 2) , but you won't see nearly as much revenue from TV and "money games" not to mention whatever ancillary benefit you can impute from mid week TV.

Exactly. The money a school "saves" buy offering 20-something less scholarships at the FCS level is completely wiped away in comparison by having far less money from guarantee money games or money coming in from conference TV deals like FBS teams do. In many cases, when a Power Five school schedules a Group of Five FBS school in the non-conference, it usually pays it a few hundred thousand dollars more than when they schedule an FCS team to fill the exact same opening. This is why it drives me nuts when I read about university administrators (they are almost always ones outside of the athletic department) declaring they should drop to the FCS. Because the reality is in most cases, you'd either still be in the same boat if you did based off of some of the examples listed above, or you'd be in even worse off shape if you did.