Conference Realignments - Take 2

[dakotadan]

Liberty University announced at their commencement today that they hope to move to FBS. Obviously they would need to find a conference to invite them.

[SIOUXFAN97]

Liberty University announced at their commencement today that they hope to move to FBS. Obviously they would need to find a conference to invite them.

lookin forward to und being fcs but if i'm right the following schools have announced, are studying a move to fbs, or are rumored to go fbs...

liberty

appalachian state

old dominion

georgia southern

lamar

delaware

james madison

jacksonville state

montana

montana state

ndac (to the big 12 of course)

villanova

[bincitysioux]

lookin forward to und being fcs but if i'm right the following schools have announced, are studying a move to fbs, or are rumored to go fbs...

liberty

appalachian state

old dominion

georgia southern

lamar

delaware

james madison

jacksonville state

montana

montana state

ndac (to the big 12 of course)

villanova

You're right, but under the category of "rumored to go FCS", you could also include North Dakota, NDSU, Sac St, Portland St, UC Davis Cal Poly, Youngstown, Missouri St, Illinois St., Sam Houston, yadda yadda yadda...................

[bincitysioux]

Radio interview with Idaho A.D.: http://www.sportsradiokjr.com/pages/ianfurness_page.html?article=10117626

-His main goal is to preserve FBS football at Idaho

-Questions the direction of the Big Sky

-Thinks there will be 3 tiers of DI football in the future: BCS, FBS, FCS..........he wonders if the Big Sky will be in the 2nd Tier or 3rd Tier

-Wants Idaho to be in a position to be in the 2nd Tier

-Basically, he wants the Big Sky Conference, or at least a number of its top tier members to move to FBS

[The Sicatoka]

Three tiers of Division I football ... ah yes, the "everyone gets a trophy" youth soccer model.

[farce poobah]

Florida State to the Big 12?

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/ncaaf--florida-state-trustee-sparks-firestorm-with-desire-to-join-big-12.html;_ylt=AlOPwTFkGuB2332ieLV1Qk45nYcB

That one makes sense.

[JohnboyND7]

Three tiers of Division I football ... ah yes, the "everyone gets a trophy" youth soccer model.

One could make an argument against that to a degree. People should be playing against schools that they are capable of competing with financially. Should Notre Dame, USC, Alabama, etc. be in the same competition as.....say...Idaho and Wyoming? In basketball, I think so, considering having one or two great players can get you to the promised land.

Football, you need depth and a lot more money to compete than in basketball and the other sports. If it gets to the point where there are three divisions, I would like NDSU to find its way into that second tier. I'm sure UND folks would think the same way. In no world could NDSU/UND get to a position to compete with the huge powers. Just not possible.

[darell1976]

Radio interview with Idaho A.D.: http://www.sportsrad...rticle=10117626

-His main goal is to preserve FBS football at Idaho

-Questions the direction of the Big Sky

-Thinks there will be 3 tiers of DI football in the future: BCS, FBS, FCS..........he wonders if the Big Sky will be in the 2nd Tier or 3rd Tier

-Wants Idaho to be in a position to be in the 2nd Tier

-Basically, he wants the Big Sky Conference, or at least a number of its top tier members to move to FBS

I would think UND would then consider an FBS study. But until that happens we won't get there for a long time.

[UNDColorado]

If division one football does indeed break off into three divisions; which I think it will in the next five years, then UND and the Big Sky needs to be in position to move to the second tier. Fullerton has also eluded to this in multiple past interviews which leads me to believe he and others on that level know something that the fans like us don't. Should be interesting to say the least.

[darell1976]

If division one football does indeed break off into three divisions; which I think it will in the next five years, then UND and the Big Sky needs to be in position to move to the second tier. Fullerton has also eluded to this in multiple past interviews which leads me to believe he and others on that level know something that the fans like us don't. Should be interesting to say the least.

UND would then need to speed up their future stadium ideas either build a new "football only" stadium or remodel Memorial Stadium to say 20-25K. Alerus won't cut it to move up to the FBS.

[dmksioux]

UND would then need to speed up their future stadium ideas either build a new "football only" stadium or remodel Memorial Stadium to say 20-25K. Alerus won't cut it to move up to the FBS.

The Alerus would be just fine for the new FBS...10-20 years anyways.. For the long term, 20+ years out, yes they will need an upgrade.

[82SiouxGuy]

UND would then need to speed up their future stadium ideas either build a new "football only" stadium or remodel Memorial Stadium to say 20-25K. Alerus won't cut it to move up to the FBS.

That depends on what a new FBS looks like. Once you take out the BCS schools, most of the ones that are left won't be playing in 50,000 seat or bigger stadiums. Most will probably be more in the 20,000-40,000 range. The Alerus may be in a workable range, although probably near the low end. Demand for tickets is a bigger factor in deciding whether a new stadium will be needed.

[darell1976]

The Alerus would be just fine for the new FBS...10-20 years anyways.. For the long term, 20+ years out, yes they will need an upgrade.

Not when you need 15,000 attendance. Unless the NCAA gets rid of that rule for the "NEW" FBS division.

[The Sicatoka]

Not when you need 15,000 attendance. Unless the NCAA gets rid of that rule for the "NEW" FBS division.

If new divisions were created I'd guess all rules like that would come under review for a new alignment.

[dmksioux]

If new divisions were created I'd guess all rules like that would come under review for a new alignment.

Agreed, take away the BCS conferences and what is the average attendance for the remaining FBS schools. I'm too lazy to try and look it up, but I would guess it's below 30,000.

[82SiouxGuy]

Agreed, take away the BCS conferences and what is the average attendance for the remaining FBS schools. I'm too lazy to try and look it up, but I would guess it's below 30,000.

I was bored enough to do a little math. In 2011 the Mountain West, Conference USA, WAC, Sunbelt and Mid-American conferences added together averaged 22,168 fans in seats per game. Adding in the Big East would bring the average up to 25,553 per game. The Sunbelt and Mid-American both averaged less than 20,000 and the WAC was less than 21,000. I could see them either eliminating a minimum or setting it at 10,000 or less for a newly defined FBS with the above conferences plus a few more like the Big Sky, MVFC and the top eastern and southern conferences.

[dmksioux]

Thanks for doing the leg work 82. I figured average attendance for non-BCS schools would be closer to 25,000. So yes, UND wil need an upgrade in facilities at some point. I feel we have 15- 20 years to get it done. Let's start by filling the Alerus consistently and go from there.

[UNDColorado]

As we were debating the idea of a possible split I stumbled upon this article: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/story/2012-05-13/texas-william-powers-split-division-i-football/54959996/1

[UND1983]

Some have commented/joked on message boards about the Summit League becoming NCC2.0. Now you can add the Track coach at SDSU to that list when he talked about losing ORU and SUU:

I don’t think that helps you,” DeHaven said of the departures. “You’re supposed to raise the bar rather than win by default. There is a little fear of, ‘Are

we reverting back to the old (North Central Conference)?

[zonadub]

While we may debate the ups and downs of FBS football, UND does not come up often in other (outside) board conversations as a possibility for moving up. This was on the Idaho Vandals board yesterday:

GrnHornet1957 5/14 8:11 AM

One of my kids works for the University of N Dakota Athletic Dept and they are not pursuing FBS at this time.

[82SiouxGuy]

While we may debate the ups and downs of FBS football, UND does not come up often in other (outside) board conversations as a possibility for moving up. This was on the Idaho Vandals board yesterday:

UND hasn't officially finished the transition to Division I yet, so it is understandable why they wouldn't be actively puruing FBS. The lower levels of FBS under the current conditions are very difficult for many schools. Montana said that when they looked at moving up. However, the situation will be different if the BCS schools set up their own division. I am pretty sure that UND is watching the developments and would be able to make an adjustment if that is needed.

[Siouxperfan7]

FBS....25000 seat stadiums? I think the UND needs to focus on competing in the FCS and filling their 11000 seat stadium first. I agree its good to look to the future and look to grow, but the focus NOW needs to be building up a football program that can compete year in and year out for an FCS National Title and can fill the Alerus to near capacity on a regular basis. Make that the focus no and other opportunities can be focused on later when they present themselves.

[Herd]

The levels of college football are dictated by scholarship levels, not by petigree or by fans in the stands. FBS football is 85 scholarships and FCS is 63. So if there are 3 level of Division I college football, what are the scholarship level differences going to be? If you say that BCS and FBS will both still be at 85 scholarship, then you have answered the question . . . there will not be a split. And FCS schools are not going to want to increase scholarshps to goto the 2nd Level, that makes no sense. So, wise people, tell me what the scholarship levels will be for the 3 tiers of DI college fooltball if this 3 tier system is ever going to happen. . . and please be specific.

DI - 3 Levels (tell me what the scholarship differences are going to be?)

BCS Todays top 6 conferences currently at 85 scholarships ??

FBS Todays next 5 FBS conference at 85 Scholarships ??

FCS Todays 119 schools currently at 63 scholarshps ??

[jodcon]

How do you expect people to be specific about a hypothetical situation thrown out in an interview by a BCS school?

If this would happen down the road, and it's not as farfetched as it was 5 years ago, tweaking the scholarship numbers will be the easiest problem they will have to deal with.

How about 85-75-63, or 93-85-70, or xx-xx-xx? It's an arbitrary number that the NCAA would have a committee examine and make recommendations on, and then they would set the numbers.

[82SiouxGuy]

The levels of college football are dictated by scholarship levels, not by petigree or by fans in the stands. FBS football is 85 scholarships and FCS is 63. So if there are 3 level of Division I college football, what are the scholarship level differences going to be? If you say that BCS and FBS will both still be at 85 scholarship, then you have answered the question . . . there will not be a split. And FCS schools are not going to want to increase scholarshps to goto the 2nd Level, that makes no sense. So, wise people, tell me what the scholarship levels will be for the 3 tiers of DI college fooltball if this 3 tier system is ever going to happen. . . and please be specific.

DI - 3 Levels (tell me what the scholarship differences are going to be?)

BCS Todays top 6 conferences currently at 85 scholarships ??

FBS Todays next 5 FBS conference at 85 Scholarships ??

FCS Todays 119 schools currently at 63 scholarshps ??

The NCAA uses scholarships to define the levels right now. That doesn't mean that they have to use that in the future. The top 50 programs in FBS spend on average more than double what the rest of FBS spends on athletics. That separates them into 2 different divisions. Possibly the current BCS schools would pay athletes a stipend, as has been discussed in the past. Most of them have the revenue to do that while the other FBS schools do not. So maybe the BCS would have 85 scholarships plus a $2,000 stipend per player, FBS made up of the lower conferences of current FBS and the upper conferences from FCS have the 85 scholarships and the remainder of FCS have 63. Maybe 85, 75 and 63. Or they could split it any different way they wanted. You act like all of this is written in stone. The NCAA has the ability to create different rules if it wants to create new rules. What is so hard to understand about that?