Another FCS team is on its way up to FBS, Georgia State made the announcement yesterday they will leave the Colonial (before they even play a down in the league) and head to the Sun Belt in 2013. Georgia State just started playing football in 2010, they hired former Alabama and Kentucky head coach Bill Curry to jump-start the team, the Panthers play in the Georgia Dome, and was their intention once the team was created to play at the FBS level, much like North Carolina-Charlotte, which will start playing football at the FCS level next year with an eye towards FBS in 2015. It’s a road that’s proven to be VERY difficult for nearly everyone in the last 10 years. I looked at the six most recent schools that I could find that made the transition and the best way to describe the results are mixed.
- Connecticut: Moved up to 1-A or FBS in 2000, after some initial struggles, Huskies have turned themselves into a contender in the Big East, making a BCS Bowl Game two years ago.
- Troy: School that most fans in this part of the world are familiar with, the Trojans beat NDSU 18-17 for the 1984 Division 2 National Championship. Troy had some initial success, still playing a majority of FCS teams, but since they moved into the Sun Belt, they’ve become a very solid program, making five bowl games since 2004.
- South Florida: The Bulls moved up to FBS in 2001 and have developed a terrific program, based in Tampa, Jim Leavitt had USF ranked in the top 10 just a few years ago, they have a 81-52 record since moving up, but consider the area they play in and also underwent an off-field scandal with Leavitt reportedly hitting players and was fired.
- Florida Atlantic: The Owls made the transition in 2005, Howard Schellenberger has been the only coach they’ve ever known until this year, Carl Pelini has taken this job, FAU’s record is not impressive 58-74; most fans will remember they beat the Gophers in 2007, and went to a bowl game that year, the fastest ever a program made a bowl game in just it’s 7th year.
- Florida International: The Panthers have had a tough time in the big boy division, and to be honest they weren’t all that good at the FCS level, playing three years between 2002-04 and the most games they won was two. FIU is located in Miami, best remembered for the on-field brawl they had with Miami a few years ago, when they moved up in 2005, they were the fastest program to move up to the highest level and it hasn’t been pretty.
- Western Kentucky: It hasn’t been pretty for the Hilltoppers either, perhaps next to FIU, the biggest case against moving up to FBS. WKU moved up in 2008, and the first three years they played FBS had 2 wins, zero wins and 2 wins. Western finally had a breakthru season this year in 2011, going 7-5, but one of the five losses was to FCS member Indiana State.
There are also a couple themes I noticed here, nearly every team here underwent a coaching change two or three years into the transition, and also four of these teams moved into the Sun Belt (Troy, WKU, FIU and FAU) The Sun Belt is a fine league, but we’re not talking about the cream of the crop of FBS football. There are four other test cases everyone should look at this year that are moving from FCS to FBS:
- South Alabama (Sun Belt)
- Texas State (WAC)
- Texas-San Antonio (WAC)
- Massachusetts (MAC)
Two of the teams I’ve mentioned (Georgia State and UMass) play in NFL stadiums, those you know will be empty a majority of the time, South Florida plays in Tampa’s stadium but has had success to at least draw a respectable crowd. I have not even mentioned money at all during this topic, which we know would be a massive increase to fund a FBS team, it’s a dangerous road, one that’s seen much more losing than success.
Go big or go home! FCS is nothing more than glorified DII.
After what the Bison did this year I cant imagine rooting for a team that will never have the chance to win a NC. You can keep the FBS….i’ll take a NC at FCS anyday!
Big Daffy – You’ll recall that FBS has a sissy election to select a champion. At least in FCS, DII, etc. they play for it.
Pretty glib post, Dom. That’s too bad.
None of schools you listed have a similar situation to NDSU. The closest would be Western Kentucky, only because they were in the Gateway conference when they won the I-AA championship in 2002 (which is now the MVFC).
Take a look at Western’s stadium back then and look at it now. Take a look at Western’s coaching staff and their salaries then and now. It takes a move to college football’s major league to ignite that kind of support.
The smallest bowl games have better TV deals and still payout vs. the FCS playoffs where the NCAA takes your money and no one cares about it.
Bring on the bowls. Being national champion of the minor leagues isn’t that big of deal.
you should do a little research before you claim something that is false.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-23/college-football-winners-still-lose-as-bowl-game-expenses-exceed-payout.html
There were 33 bowls played last year, not including the national championship game. At least 13 schools spent more to play in the game than their conferences received in compensation. According to figures from public universities where open-records laws apply, those losses totaled more than $3.8 million, even as taxpayer subsidies for athletic departments are on the rise and athletic programs are falling deeper in debt.
Oh, what FBS conference was it that the Bison would be welcome into ? I forgot.
There’s no room in the athletic budget to add 44 scholarships right now (that’s right we’d have to add 22 womens scholarships as well, which likely means funding a brand new womens sport, to satisfy Title IX). The Fargodome is not a feasible FBS facility. There is no willing FBS league who would want NDSU right now based on those factors and the pre-existing appeal, or lack thereof. Belive it or not, Fargo/ND is not a market where most mid-major conferences are looking to broaden their horizons.
You can talk all you want about how nice it would be to get out of the smalltime but NDSU has had a hard enough time getting funding to renovate the BSA. It would just be fiscally irresponsible to try to make the leap to FBS at this point or anytime in the near future. Until I hear a logical counter-argument other than “I’m sick of being small time” there is no basis to think otherwise.
Can FBS give me a 15 game season with 9 home games?
Unless you are a top 20 FBS team what relevance are you in the FBS world?
NDSU should stay in FCS until the NCAA starts reducing scholarships and reducing the quality of football. NDSU should have moved to I-AA back in the early 1990′s when the NCAA started reducing scholarships. If something like that happens to the FCS the Bison better be ready to move up.
I’d like to see NDSU move up to FBS someday but BC$ Commi$$ioner is right on the money with his comments.
This is the most logical and reasonable blog thread of comments I have ever seen on this blog. I would agree that the FBS is screwed up right now and staying in the FCS is a great place to be for the National Champion Bison. Most of the teams to make the jump are in the south or east where there is more money and resources committed to football programs. Being in the FBS just brings with it a whole host of issues…mostly being negative ones.
To put it simply:
1. NSDU will move to FBS when it makes sense to move. There is no reason to hurry at this time.
2. I hope NDSU never makes that mistake of NOT moving when they should move like in the early ’90′s. That “mess up” put the program into mediocrity for over 10 years (yes, I realize still some conference championships and playoffs runs, and while that qualifies as good at UND, it does not at NDSU). I makes me made everytime I think about this.
So, I personally think the folks who say move up now are silly and those who say never move up are silly. Do what is best for NDSU, period.
It will never make sense to move up. Playing in the Who Cares Bowl and being part of a low level conference could never compare to the excitement level of being a contender year in year out at FCS level.
Bison go Big 12, Fargo Dome Authority Builds the Stadium, the OOC games would be enough to make the move alone much less some of the conference games we would have. You need the stadium and to get the stadium you need the games. Big 12 gives you the games. Get the stadium and we are in.
I agree that the stadium is an absolute must to make a move to FBS! The Dome is a great facility but just not big enough. I believe it was 2007 the Bison turned away 4 to 5,000 fans when the Homecoming game was sold out. Think what the NDSU and the Fargodome will be losing per game when the demand for ticketscontinues to grow with the success of the program??? If the Bison ever did get in the Big 12 just imagine Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State in Fargo at a new 40,000 seat stadium. It would cost over $200 million to build the Fargodome right now what would it cost to build a 40,000 seat stadium? How would it be paid for? We are lucky to have a football program that has these type of problems! Go Bison!
Holy delusions of grandeur! I’m sorry, I’d like the bison to be fbs, but it’s just not feasible. Big 12 not really a viable option… This is like msum saying we’re going to start a hockey program…
When you talk FBS, the definition of success has to be re-calibrated. Success at the FBS level is . . . 1) Conf championships and/or making championship game 2) Bowl Bids (any) 3) wins vs BCS confs 4) nation tv games 5) top 25 rankings. The goals change from todays NC goal, some of you need to grasp this. Lots of great goals also at the FBS level.
Move up or keep playing in a glorified NCC! We got 1 TV game this year and it took us getting to the National Championship to get it. Then it was on ESPN2, that should tell you how much FCS is on the National Radar.
Then this about your ego. You want them to have more exposure. You want them to be on tv. You want them to play bigger teams to stroke your ego as a fan so you can say—look at us.
IMO you can beat the excitement of the playoffs. There is a place for the type of football NDSU plays. Right now its in the FCS.
One NC and we some of you are losing your minds. We all should have our attention on enjoying the next two year run. If FCS is so small time stay home when the playoffs and NC come around again. It didn’t seem small time when we outnumbered the KU fans in Texas. They played in town too that weekend and there were much more Bison fans.
I have to temper the excitement and try to enjoy the summer and wait for football again.
One thing I agree on is the majority of the posts here do come from true Bison Fans, we just don’t agree on everything, but it is good conversations at pre-game.
GO BISON.
So where did my post go that was countering that there were more Bison Fans than Kansas fans in Texas that weekend?????
in my opinion ndsu should be fbs right now. Their program is top 5 in fcs and could easily compete in the mac or mwc or wac. Twin Cities people, chicago, and everywhere else view fcs as D2. Sorry, its the truth.
ndsu has the fanbase and coaches and players and oil money? to do this right now, what on earth are you waiting for?
no one outside fargo/north dakota care about fcs playoffs and natl title.
become FBS and become a national team, if the lousy gophers can do it, you can too!
Who care what others think of the FCS? If they dont like the FCS then they dont have to watch it.
Yes the goophers are FBS. But are they successfull?
Ya, the Calves are successful in FCS, but who watches them outside of Fargo and North Dakota? Gophers TV and national exposure is huge even with lacking on-field success.
TM: there are lots of people who don’t like the FCS. And no, they don’t have to watch it. So they don’t. That’s why NC is on ESPN12.
Let’s complete the BSA project before drinking this Kool Aid.
Likes bison brings up a fantastic point. Ndsu wins a title and they can’t slamdunk that???
Something in Denmark I’m sorry but someone is dropping the ball. (Yes, this is a lot of puns)
Fargo needs to be solidified and a marketing effort in a 50mile radius is a must.
You would think that after winning the title the way the Bison did and the fans going crazy with support that there would be a wave of donations. Maybe a push from the wealthy Team Makers for a plan for a new stadium no matter if we are FCS or make the move to FBS. If we are FCS we will stillhave huge crowds bring in money neede to run the athletic department and if we do move up to BCS there will be regulations for a stadium with a certain amount of seats. Fargo needs to look at something with 40,000 seats, or maybe 30,000 with the ability to expand to 40,000. iAnything less would be a waste of money. The Fargo-Moorhead Metro is growing at nearly 4,000 a year and that number snowballs every year. In 10 years that could be 50,000 more people living here. The time to plan is now. Unfortunately I am guessing most of us on here aren’t in a position of donating millions of $$ or do we have the power to get people to start looking at this seriously. It sounds like SDSU is moving along with their plans for a new field house and totally renovating their football stadium. USD plans on building a new basketball arena near their dome and building their athletic offices between the two connecting them all three facillities. If they can do that why can’t we get $9 million to finish the BSA? Go Bison!
My point exactly. How long have we been mired down with the BSA project?
What would it cost to build a 40,000 seat stadium? 3, 400 million? How long have we been trying to raise another paltry (in relative terms) $9million to get the BSA project done? What percentage of the BSA project has been donated by businesses like Sanford or Scheels? Point is there just isn’t anywhere near the amount of willing-to-be-donated funds in the hands of Joe Bisonfan needed to even think about a new stadium and BCS.
The Dome Authority pulled its support from the BB arean. Why? They need to keep their powder dry for the new football stadium. 30 – 40,000 is the right size. If they can play Big 12 football in Lawrance KS we can play it here in Fargo. How many tickets sold if Iowa or Iowa State shows up in town? How many for Boise state OOC? How many for SIU? See the difference? Its all good. NDSU will grow into its market. We are leaving a lot on the table right now.
Lawrence, KS is within a hour drive of Kansas City. Not a good comparison.
A better comparison would be…if they can play FBS ball in Laramie, WY, then they could in Fargo ND.
Excellent comparison. My question is, why was it like that from the beginning? Why is a school like Wyoming fbs and NDSU and (ahem) UND D2? (At the time.)
Because Wyoming only has one flagship / research university. It is easier for a state to consentrate resources when you don’t have two competing.
Is Boise State the flagship/research university in z idaho? I thought Idaho and Idaho state were fcs.
One hour drive for the far west side of KC. NDSU has minneapolis, St. Cloud, Sioux Falls and Bismarck plus a huge home base. Its starting to flex some muscle and the seats in the fargo dome are becoming harder and harder to find. Just imagine the demand for tickets with a big 12 schedule and OOC games to match. Laramie has a great setup, perfect for NDSU but we will need to look at 40,000 potential. Ames has Jack Trice with 50,000.
One small matter —- someone to write the check.
The Dome Authority backed out of the arena to keep their powder dry. I dont know where the remainder of the financing would come from. Fargo might be ready for a stadium tax? Im sure the new develpment associated with a stadium that was going to bring a lot of fun and excitement to the city would eventually repay everyone. It would be a much better deal for Fargo than a the new Viking stadium is for Minneapolis. They are just replacing the old one, Fargo would be getting something new, something big and exciting.
“Why don’t we fund NDSU the same as UND?” This is a statement I see over and over again on Bisonville. That comes from one side of the mouth. The other side of the month says “Let’s built this new football stadium.” How would that sell in Bismarck? Fargo built us the very nice Fargodome. All of a sudden it’s time to blow it off and build this new facilty. Then, back on the other side of the mouth, it’s about NDSU student costs. Which way is it?