How well would GV and Ferris compete against D1 teams?

[yote_7]

Ferris played great against Montana, and Montana defense is for the moment dominating in the FCS championship. It is clear that GV and Ferris are already on a FCS level. Could either of these schools go .500
in the MAC? My guess is no.

[yote_7]

And Montana just won FCS in double OT over North Dakota ST. Great finish.

[KleShreen]

And Montana just won FCS in double OT over North Dakota ST. Great finish.

That was the semifinals. Montana is likely to get rolled next week against SDSU.

[KleShreen]

Ferris played great against Montana, and Montana defense is for the moment dominating in the FCS championship. It is clear that GV and Ferris are already on a FCS level. Could either of these schools go .500
in the MAC? My guess is no.

The MVFC is a different animal. They would not go .500 there. They might go .500 in the OVC.

[champgymusa]

Ferris played great against Montana, and Montana defense is for the moment dominating in the FCS championship. It is clear that GV and Ferris are already on a FCS level. Could either of these schools go .500
in the MAC? My guess is no.

36 schollys vs 85...not great odds....having said that it might be interesting but I would think the depth might be an issue. Montana will have paws full in the Natty.

[BillyGV]

FCS is 67 or something like that for schollys- the 80+ is the big boys FBS but your point Champ is the depth those extra schollys provided

[UISguy23]

With how serious both schools take their football programs id say they would be qualifying for playoff berths 2 or 3 years in. Currently id say they would beat schools like WIU Drake Presbyterian etc

[DawgUp]

Doesn't make sense to compare Ferris at a D2 scholarship level with a team at a D1 scholarship level. Apples to oranges. Put them on equal footing.

Montana's announcers kept saying how Ferris' OLine would be the biggest they'd see all year and our DLine was man handling their Oline. And neither one of those were as good as they've been the last 2-3 years.

I'd say give Ferris 2 years at 67 scholarships to build some depth, they'd be a consistent quarterfinal, semifinal, nc contender.

[champgymusa]

FCS is 67 or something like that for schollys- the 80+ is the big boys FBS but your point Champ is the depth those extra schollys provided

I am sorry I thought the question was about the MAC which is 85 schollys. My Bad

[EastStroud13]

Ferris played great against Montana, and Montana defense is for the moment dominating in the FCS championship. It is clear that GV and Ferris are already on a FCS level. Could either of these schools go .500
in the MAC? My guess is no.

Massey puts GV 5th in the MAC between Bowling Green and Northern Illinois, and Ferris 11th in the MAC between Buffalo and Akron. Massey gets weird at the top of divisions but 11th feels fair. The dregs of the MAC are terrible.

For the MVFC, GV is 5th between Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa, and Ferris 10th between Missouri State and Murray State. For the OVC, they put GV 1st ahead of Tennessee-Martin, and Ferris 2nd between Tennessee-Martin and Gardner-Webb.

[Predatory Primates]

Ferris played great against Montana, and Montana defense is for the moment dominating in the FCS championship. It is clear that GV and Ferris are already on a FCS level. Could either of these schools go .500
in the MAC? My guess is no.

With equal schollies, yes. Without, depth would kill them.

[Tony Nicolette]

Let's start with some clarity. NCAA Limits for Athletic Aid for football:

D3 - Zero Scholarships
D2 - 36 Scholarships
FCS - 63 Scholarships
FBS - 85 Scholarships

The question is really a fool's errand IMO...but I suppose the reason I think so is really rooted in my answer to the question itself: While GV and FSU might be competitive on a one or two game basis (like we saw this year from Ferris), DEPTH is the biggest delineator as we get into the different divisions. Neither team, as presently constructed, would be able to hold up particularly well over the course of an entire season against an FCS schedule. LET ALONE against an FBS slate, as the original post asks about them being competitive in the MAC. GV or Ferris might give a team or two fits over an FBS season, but a 12-game slate against 85-schollie teams every week would be a real struggle. Whether they could finish .500 against an FCS schedule seems like a stretch to me as well.

Now, the discussion around where MAC teams should actually be aligned divisionally is an entirely different topic. Folks who know me know my stance there, so I'll keep quiet.

[FSUBulldog27]

Let's start with some clarity. NCAA Limits for Athletic Aid for football:

D3 - Zero Scholarships
D2 - 36 Scholarships
FCS - 63 Scholarships
FBS - 85 Scholarships

The question is really a fool's errand IMO...but I suppose the reason I think so is really rooted in my answer to the question itself: While GV and FSU might be competitive on a one or two game basis (like we saw this year from Ferris), DEPTH is the biggest delineator as we get into the different divisions. Neither team, as presently constructed, would be able to hold up particularly well over the course of an entire season against an FCS schedule. LET ALONE against an FBS slate, as the original post asks about them being competitive in the MAC. GV or Ferris might give a team or two fits over an FBS season, but a 12-game slate against 85-schollie teams every week would be a real struggle. Whether they could finish .500 against an FCS schedule seems like a stretch to me as well.

Now, the discussion around where MAC teams should actually be aligned divisionally is an entirely different topic. Folks who know me know my stance there, so I'll keep quiet.

We played Northern Iowa in 1990 - lost 30 something to 3 - only down 6-3 at the half and the depth of a D1AA team took over. Played NDSU twice and loss pretty bad. So the Montana reference was the best showing for Ferris. you have to match scholarships and build out from there...long term vision - need to build a 15k to 20k stadium in lovely Big Rapids. Big dreaming

[bigmrg74]

We played Northern Iowa in 1990 - lost 30 something to 3 - only down 6-3 at the half and the depth of a D1AA team took over. Played NDSU twice and loss pretty bad. So the Montana reference was the best showing for Ferris. you have to match scholarships and build out from there...long term vision - need to build a 15k to 20k stadium in lovely Big Rapids. Big dreaming

I don't believe that you would need a minimum stadium at FCS or D1-AA, that's more of a D1-A thing or FBS. Of course, there's some schools like Eastern Michigan who stadium does have the required number of seats, but they keep them tarped off to make them look nicer than just being empty seating. Short of some real moneybags alumni showing up with money to burn, figure its better to give it to FSU than to the taxman, there's probably just not the population and support needed there in Big Rapids to realistically make much of a go at it at D1-AA, especially when you realize that they would have to move their whole athletic department up to D1 and probably spend another 10 million a year on the required scholorships and other operational expenses needed for when you're at the D1-AA level, at least that much to have any hope of being somewhat successful in anything at the D1 level.