NDSU athetic director Gene Taylor expressed some surprise this morning over the news that Georgia Southern is moving its football program to the Football Bowl Subdivision level.
“It’s a program that’s had a lot of success over the years but it’s a challenge,” he said. “It’s definitely a challenge. Some schools have made the transition easier than others … more however have struggled with it. But if anybody has a good shot at it, they do.”
Taylor reiterated that moving up is not a subject of discussion at NDSU.
“We’re just too young in all of this stuff, really,” he said.
A couple of notes I took from the Statesboro Herald newspaper story. The athletic budget at GSU is about $12 million, which is around $3 million less than NDSU’s total budget ($14.9 million this year). GSU officials believe they need to raise another $4.4 million annually to make the FBS leap with the biggest chunk going from 63 to 85 scholarships. That’s a healthy jump.
I actually admire the guts it takes to do this. But the difference between intestinal fortitude and reality is in the money and if GSU doesn’t raise it every year, problems will arise. I also question playing in a lower tier FBS league and whether playing on a Tuesday or Wednesday night in a half empty stadium on an ESPN network like the MAC does is really that beneficial. Maybe it is.
Also interesting that the GSU president poo-booed Frisco, Texas. I think if you asked the thousands of NDSU fans who were in Frisco, many would tell you they had an absolute blast with the event and that they would take that over the Motor City Bowl, or whatever late December bowl games the non-BCS schools play. Win or lose, for those of you who were there, am I wrong?
i’ll take national championship over Toilet Bowl champ every year! i was in Frisco, it was great!
TV Exposure. GSU is not in the same league as NDSU. The FCS Championship Game has ratings between 1 and 2 while 1/3 of the FBS Bowl Games average less than a 2 rating. If you look at the overall TV expsure NDSU has garnered it’s better than low end FBS teams.
2011
ESPN3 – 6X
ESPN2 – 1
ESPNU – 1
ESPN Gameplan – 2
Big Ten Network – 1
Statewide NBC – 4
CBS local – 1
Midco Sports – 2
Comcast SportsNet Chicago – 1
Fox College Sports – 1
2010
ESPN Gameplan – 2
ESPN3 – 2
Fox College Sports – 2
Fox Sports Midwest – 1
FSN North – 1
Comcast SportNet Chicago – 1
Statewide NBC – 7
CBS local – 1
Plus the EWU playoff game was on Altitude.
DIAA is basically glorified DII. I don’t blame any team that wants to play at the highest level. Go big or go home!
I agree we all want to play at the highest level but it may not be a reality. You can say “Go Big or Go Home” all you want. Would you rather support a 3-10 team in the Sun Belt Conference or a possibility National Championship team in FCS? Even the champion of the Sun Belt Conference plays in the “I Don’t Give A Crap” Bowl every year. It would be tougher to get fan support, alumni support, and the almighty dollar without having positive results on the field.
The Sun Belt generally gets two bowl bids: The New Orleans Bowl and the GoDaddy.com Bowl although last year it sent three teams to bowls including the prestigious Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl.
The new orleans bowl had a rating of 1.5 this year and. 76 the year before . The Godaddy Bowl hit a 2 share last year. I would imagine the FCS National Championship along with the other playoff games would have been pretty darn close in the ratings
And Beef O Brady had a 2.29 but actually had good teams in Louisville and Southern Miss but only 20k showed up for the game.
I think that Frisco, Texas was great for the Bison. Sounds like sour grapes from the GSU prez. I bet if they would have won the title he would have been singing an entirely different tune. Zero respect to that guy. I think FCS is great but I can already see what is happening. Just like D-II all the top schools are leaving and sooner or later NDSU will have to make the move too. We will be back playing all the schools that we were playing in D-II. Get a new stadium 40,000 seats within the next 8 to 10 years, put a bubble over Dakota Field and be ready to move when the times comes . . . and it will come. Go Bison!
We are already playing many of the schools we did in D2.
Does that $4.4 million include the 22 extra women scholarships? What’s not talked about is that in a FBS move is sports like wrestling, men’s golf, and other minor sports get eliminated to try to reduce the cost of having extra women’s scholarships.
The Bison are at the highest D1 level in every other sport so there would be no increases
On a scale of 1 to 10 what are NDSU chances, at this point, of going FBS? 10 = Done Deal and 1 = Snowball in _ _ _ _
In the next 5 years a 1, 10 years from now and beyond I think it is a 10. I believe the time will come when all the top teams move up to FBS and the Bison will be forced to go just like in Division-II. I think all four Dakota schools will make the move too.
0 as in zero, less than a snowball in hell
Even the lowest bowl gets more attention from the national college football media than the FCS championship game.
Why are people so hung up on making sure NDSU has a chance to play in a championship game? What good is being a champion of a division that no one cares about????
NDSU has won 3 poll national championships, 4 DII national championships and now a FCS national championship (and it didn’t take that long to acomphish that).
Does anyone other than NDSU alumni and fans notice??
NDSU has “been there, done that”. It’s time to start planning, at least, for taking the next step.
And shame on you Kolpack for trying to be a populist journalist, not doing any research and for being so glib towards bowls. I expect more and you should do the same of yourself.
Plenty of people notice. Especially in the territories that are big FCS territories like the Missouri Valley, Big Sky, CAA, and Southern. That covers a lot of territory. Poll people in those states and ask them if they know who won the Tampex Bowl or the FCS National Championship. There’s nothing wrong with being regional or recognized in smaller markets. It works for Hockey too. Poll the nation and see how many people know where Bemidji, St Cloud, or Mankato is? The last time the Gopbers played Iowa State in a bowl it drew a .76. Montana / Appalachian State drew a 1.9. People seem to think that Ball State and Alabama are on the same level. Ball State and weaker conference teams are closer same level popularly wide as the FCS than say Alabama