BG Football: FCS or FBS, discuss...

[BGSU33]

This topic again??? WTF?! We are an FBS team! End of it. This is where we are, this is where we belong. It pisses me off when our own fans bring this $hit up! It's also a reminder of us have poor seasons in recent years because several years ago when we were ranked in the Top-25, beating BCS teams and winning bowl games, this kind of talk NEVER came up. Further, if we God forbid dropped down to FCS, there is ZERO guarantee we'd be an annual factor at that level at the top down the road. And while BG does have nicer facilities than most FCS schools, we certainly don't over them all. Ever seen Montana's stadium, or what James Madison just built? And many of them are improving. If you want to talk about FCS schools, feel free to do so. But we're not one, so leave BG out of it. Go talk about Youngstown State or some other FCS school - of which 90% of them wish they would be right where we are, at the FBS level. So as Texas State, UT-San Antonio, UMass and South Alabama come up next year from the FCS to the FBS level, we want to talk about whether we want to be??? We have guys who come go BG because we are an FBS school, to play at this level. End of story.

[AyZiggy97]

Anyone that would only support FBS football at BG is a conditional fan. If a move to FCS results in someone no longer attending games, or enrolling in another school, your absence will not be noticed.

Sorry you feel that way. Happy holidays.

[Falconfreak90]

I would much rather see BG stay in FBS...

[It's the Journey...]

This topic again??? WTF?! We are an FBS team! End of it. This is where we are, this is where we belong. It pisses me off when our own fans bring this $hit up! It's also a reminder of us have poor seasons in recent years because several years ago when we were ranked in the Top-25, beating BCS teams and winning bowl games, this kind of talk NEVER came up.

Thanks for the attack, so sorry to piss you off this holiday season.

Why are some of you so afraid to talk about this? Should we just let the department run itself into bankruptcy? I want to compete for a National Championship in ALL sports! Part of that is putting the department in a position to be as financially stable as possible. That is what this discussion is about. If that means we drop a sport or play for an actual NC and not a mythical NC then so be it!

No matter what the decision, I will continue supporting the Falcons!

[AyZiggy97]

Why are some of you so afraid to talk about this? Should we just let the department run itself into bankruptcy? I want to compete for a National Championship in ALL sports! Part of that is putting the department in a position to be as financially stable as possible. That is what this discussion is about. If that means we drop a sport or play for an actual NC and not a mythical NC then so be it!

No matter what the decision, I will continue supporting the Falcons!

Only a couple of dozen athletic programs turned profits in 2009-2010. None were in FCS. Maybe someone can find whether non football schools made money, but the supposition here is that it's not much better for them either. Sure spending on college sports, especially football, is out of whack. But BG unilaterally disengaging will not solve it.

[footballguy51]

I guarantee that if BG were to drop to FCS, there would be a huge group of fans that would stop supporting BG athletics in general, me included. Somebody said it earlier that this talk is indicative of us having a losing season, because when we were winning this never came up. Also, has anybody stopped to really think about what would happen if we did drop down? What level of recruit would we be drawing in? EMU would be getting better recruits than us. How fast would ESPN jump on the hate bandwagon? Would the NCAA start looking at forcing other teams down if we were to set the precedence? Would we EVER be able to schedule a game with a FBS team after being seen as quitters.

We would be the ones that are getting fed up with not being able to get in on the basketball game happening on this court, so we're taking our ball and going home to play in our own driveway. Unfortunately, only the neighborhood kids will play in our driveway, and they're all under the age of 10.

This scenario would be like a player that is playing Major League Baseball, but is a back-up that rarely ever sees the field, deciding that he would much rather drop down to AAA ball because he'll most likely be a starter. No guarantees that he'll be a starter, but he figures he probably will be.

[FortWayneFalcon]

This scenario would be like a player that is playing Major League Baseball, but is a back-up that rarely ever sees the field, deciding that he would much rather drop down to AAA ball because he'll most likely be a starter. No guarantees that he'll be a starter, but he figures he probably will be.

The struggle is more important than the victory.

[truth]

No matter what the decision, I will continue supporting the Falcons!

What decision? I haven't heard rumblings of moving to FCS from the athletic department. This really is just trolling on the forums to incite angst in those who are passionate about BG football. I think people aren't scared to discuss, they just have better uses for their time...

[Globetrotter]

Houston was a game away from going to a BCS bowl this year. Just having that chance is worth Div 1

[BGSU33]

The reason the mere thought of this topic coming up bothers me is because I truly believe in BG. It is my school, it's a part of me, I have poured my heart into it, and I expect the same in return. I bitch when we lose, I love when we win, but I would never be able to accept us giving up - such as dropping down a level. If that day were to ever come, it is the day I give up on my school in return. I make donations, buy season tickets and travel all over the country when I can to see my Falcons play. I expect us to put forth the same effort in return. It's in the meaning of our nickname for crying out loud, we're the Falcons. We fight, even against bigger prey, we don't just roll over. And to me, that is what dropping to FCS would be, giving up. We are in a very favorable position. There are many schools that would love to be in the FBS. You don't walk away from a good thing.

Many people may not know, but Tulane was once in the SEC, and left, to become an independent. Think they ever look back now and wonder WTH were we thinking??? Others like Temple were booted from the BCS. They could have folded, dropped to FCS, but they fought, and look where they are now. And make no mistake about it, while they have made a nice home in the MAC for football, it wouldn't surprise me to see them one day back in the mix. But the message here is, they weathered the storm, and didn't give up. If all these changes in college football ends up putting all the MAC schools into the FCS, then so be it. But if BG was to just drop out while our peers such as Ohio, Miami, Toledo, etc., kept on going, no way would that be acceptable.

[TG1996]

It wouldn't shock me at all if, in the next decade or so, the top 40-50 teams (not just record-wise, but $$$-wise) broke off into their own division and left schools like BG, and even the lower tiers of the big conferences "a step behind," likely also causing some of the bigger FCS schools to join the mix, basically creating three levels of Division 1, if the "big boys" even stay under the NCAA umbrella. I've gotta think the only thing that's keeping them there now is that they need the NCAA to organize, fund and babysit their other 25+ varsity sports that aren't football or basketball.

[mc3022]

The reason the mere thought of this topic coming up bothers me is because I truly believe in BG. It is my school, it's a part of me, I have poured my heart into it, and I expect the same in return. I bitch when we lose, I love when we win, but I would never be able to accept us giving up - such as dropping down a level. If that day were to ever come, it is the day I give up on my school in return. I make donations, buy season tickets and travel all over the country when I can to see my Falcons play. I expect us to put forth the same effort in return. It's in the meaning of our nickname for crying out loud, we're the Falcons. We fight, even against bigger prey, we don't just roll over. And to me, that is what dropping to FCS would be, giving up. We are in a very favorable position. There are many schools that would love to be in the FBS. You don't walk away from a good thing.

Many people may not know, but Tulane was once in the SEC, and left, to become an independent. Think they ever look back now and wonder WTH were we thinking??? Others like Temple were booted from the BCS. They could have folded, dropped to FCS, but they fought, and look where they are now. And make no mistake about it, while they have made a nice home in the MAC for football, it wouldn't surprise me to see them one day back in the mix. But the message here is, they weathered the storm, and didn't give up. If all these changes in college football ends up putting all the MAC schools into the FCS, then so be it. But if BG was to just drop out while our peers such as Ohio, Miami, Toledo, etc., kept on going, no way would that be acceptable.

+1...couldn't have said that better myself.

[It's the Journey...]

No matter what the decision, I will continue supporting the Falcons!

What decision? I haven't heard rumblings of moving to FCS from the athletic department. This really is just trolling on the forums to incite angst in those who are passionate about BG football. I think people aren't scared to discuss, they just have better uses for their time...

I think my wording was off there. I am not implying there is ANY discussion about moving to FCS within the department. I just want to explore the options. If that makes me a troll then so be it. There are a lot of discussions that have needed to take place about this department and its direction over the last 2o years or so and haven't because people have "better use for their time."

[It's the Journey...]

The reason the mere thought of this topic coming up bothers me is because I truly believe in BG. It is my school, it's a part of me, I have poured my heart into it, and I expect the same in return. I bitch when we lose, I love when we win, but I would never be able to accept us giving up - such as dropping down a level. If that day were to ever come, it is the day I give up on my school in return. I make donations, buy season tickets and travel all over the country when I can to see my Falcons play. I expect us to put forth the same effort in return. It's in the meaning of our nickname for crying out loud, we're the Falcons. We fight, even against bigger prey, we don't just roll over. And to me, that is what dropping to FCS would be, giving up. We are in a very favorable position. There are many schools that would love to be in the FBS. You don't walk away from a good thing.

Many people may not know, but Tulane was once in the SEC, and left, to become an independent. Think they ever look back now and wonder WTH were we thinking??? Others like Temple were booted from the BCS. They could have folded, dropped to FCS, but they fought, and look where they are now. And make no mistake about it, while they have made a nice home in the MAC for football, it wouldn't surprise me to see them one day back in the mix. But the message here is, they weathered the storm, and didn't give up. If all these changes in college football ends up putting all the MAC schools into the FCS, then so be it. But if BG was to just drop out while our peers such as Ohio, Miami, Toledo, etc., kept on going, no way would that be acceptable.

Excellent post! I don't know what the right answer is, but the department has got to do better than it has been doing for a while.

So maybe the discussion needs to move to the next step. BGSU remains FBS and no other sports are cut. How do we become a productive department? I hear how most athletic departments do not make money, but why can't we? Here are some suggestions.

1. Hire the best marketing guy we can get from a top minor league baseball club to control how we get our product out to the public.
2. Come up with a consistent but fan friendly list of policies for our facilities that will keep them secure but allow for the most fan interaction possible.
3. GET OUT OF THE MAC! We need a conference that will allow us to play football on Saturdays. We can adjust the times around OSU and UM as needed but these weekday games are killing our attendance and fan base.

What other suggestions or ideas are out there??

[transfer2BGSU]

3. GET OUT OF THE MAC! We need a conference that will allow us to play football on Saturdays. We can adjust the times around OSU and UM as needed but these weekday games are killing our attendance and fan base.

What other suggestions or ideas are out there??

Remember the college presidents are responsible for us playing on the weeknights in November. And with the Ohio budget situation as it is, all of the Ohio public universities that are in the MAC are going to play those weeknight games because they are helping with our enrollment. BGSU increased its out-of-state enrollment this year to approximately 19%. Financially, we need those students. THAT is why we play the weeknight games in November. Exposure of our universities - athletics is second.