D1 going back to 105 football scholarships

[Rockofwesties]

This makes FCS schools a laughingstock.

True, not only are they losing athletes they are also picking up an unfair amount of the House vs NCAA settlement.

[Boohaha]

I was sitting at a basketball game with one of my football buddies. He said while they were playing- "I think that they have more coaches on the bench than they do subs!"

I never had more than one assistant in any sport that I coached- and sometimes I was the only coach. No trainer either.

I have 2 assistants one is older than my dad....

[MooseLodge]

True, not only are they losing athletes they are also picking up an unfair amount of the House vs NCAA settlement.

FCS has assumed the title that D2 used to have: The worst of D1 and D3 wrapped into one. Most of the expenses of D1, most of the obscurity of D3. No man's land.

[Runnin' Cat]

What we have is basically five tiers for "Division 1" college football:

Major League, comprised of 8 teams, as determined by media: tOSU, Michigan, Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, Penn State, Notre Dame. These teams are already receiving $20 million plus per year just on NIL deals. I'll call this 5A. Most of the national network prime time slots this fall will include at least one of these teams, and whoever they happen to be playing. Most of these teams will get automatic bids to the CFP at the end of the year, unless they completely fall out of bed, because they are media darlings. tOSU is #2 preseason, and they open 3 games at home against Akron, Western Illinois, and Marshall. So they are on cruise control most of the way through. They might have actual contests against Nebraska or Penn State, and will have a dog fight against Michigan. So basically they've got three games to really prepare for to make the playoff, and they probably only need to win 1 or 2 of those.

4A is next. That's going to be the rest of the top 30 or so programs in the country. Penn State, FSU, Clemson, USC, Oregon, Iowa etc.. In the Big 12, that will include Oklahoma State (which happens to be #10 in FBS wins over the last two decades), K-State, Utah, TCU, and usually Baylor. These are going to be primetime national, but on ESPN, and Friday nights on FoX, versus whoever they are playing. All of these teams, regardless of non-conference, will need 10 wins to have any shot at the CFP. These teams are receiving $2-5 million per year in NIL deals. Due to the depth of the Big 12, the odds of a 10-win season are extremely remote, which means that the odds of a Big 12 program reaching the CFP is also remote. The odds are against any 4A teams knocking off any teams in the playoffs, just due to the huge depth of talent at the top 8. In terms of parity, the Big 12 will be fun to watch every weekend.

3A is next. Texas Tech, Iowa State, Rutgers, Illinois. These will often be primetime, but on ESPN2, the CW, Big 10 Network, etc. Again, 10 wins to have any shot at the CFP. These teams are receiving $1-3 million in NIL deals.

2A is next. That's the G5. Most of these will be streaming, unless they are playing someone above. The top G5 team will get an auto bid to the CFP. Very small amount of media money. These teams are receiving well under $1 million in NIL deals.

1A is the FCS. Little media and NIL money. Half the scholarships (now) of FBS.

Then you start with D2 and work your way down.

This is missing a few, as well as having Penn State in two levels

[SW_Mustang]

1A is the FCS. Little media and NIL money. Half the scholarships (now) of FBS.

Then you start with D2 and work your way down.

I live in the heart of FCS country - several blocks from the stadium of the defending two-time champions in fact. You could honestly break FCS down into three categories by itself...

1 - "FBS in FCS." This is SDSU, NDSU, Montana, Montana State. These schools run FCS and nobody else really comes close. and really should be FBS programs. They get a little airtime and press, the casual football fan "knows" they exist. They are revered by the hardcore football fan. Some may tune into watch the championship game even if they have no dog in the fight or don't follow FCS football. All NFL fans know of at least 1 player from one of these schools.

2 - "Almost everyone else." Pretty self explanatory. This includes everyone not mentioned above and everyone except for the Pioneer and Ivy League. One of these teams might make a run and get a shoutout from ESPN once or twice a year, but they'll never be on network TV - except as a sacrificial lamb to one of the big 4, if they're lucky enough to get that far in the playoffs. I'll include the SWAC and MEAC here because even though they don't participate in the bracket, they have their own championship and following.

3 - The Pioneer League. DIII football under the DI banner. This league wouldn't exist if it weren't for the member schools wanting DI basketball. There's no brand recognition, no airtime - it's just "there" at the absolute bottom of DI - and frankly shouldn't be DI at all. Since their formation in 1991 - member schools have only won two games in the FCS playoffs. In fact, no PFL team made the FCS tournament between 1991-2012, this only changed in 2013 because they were awarded an autobid. Playoff games are usually a guaranteed loss and more often than not are a significant blowout.

Wild Card - The Ivy League does not participate in the FCS postseason. In terms of football, they are often just "there" on their own little island. Academically speaking, their brand recognition is worldwide. They don't really fit into any category and kind of exist off to the side.

[SW_Mustang]

As this garbage goes on, I grow less and less interested in D1 sports. I think we are heading to a complete reorganization. I find I enjoy D2, D3, NAIA and JC ball so much more.

I'm right there with you. DI is such a watered down mess. Between NDSU scheduling Oak Hill, and Mercyhurst going DI - I'm honestly about done myself. It's just a free-for-all up there right now.

People can say what they want, but I believe DII, DIII, and the NAIA have some sort of integrity left. Like-minded institutions trying to see who among them is the best of the bunch. Mid-major DIs only exist as a cash grab for the administration - they don't provide anything athletically to the division. Major programs bully the entire system to create more wealth for themselves. Essentially, the top half is generating enormous amounts of wealth at the expense of everything around them, and the bottom half is happy to leech of it at the expense of competition. There's just no soul left.

It's even bled into hockey with the creation of the BigTen and NCHC. Just frustrating to watch.

[MooseLodge]

I live in the heart of FCS country - several blocks from the stadium of the defending two-time champions in fact. You could honestly break FCS down into three categories by itself...

1 - "FBS in FCS." This is SDSU, NDSU, Montana, Montana State. These schools run FCS and nobody else really comes close. and really should be FBS programs. They get a little airtime and press, the casual football fan "knows" they exist. They are revered by the hardcore football fan. Some may tune into watch the championship game even if they have no dog in the fight or don't follow FCS football. All NFL fans know of at least 1 player from one of these schools.

2 - "Almost everyone else." Pretty self explanatory. This includes everyone not mentioned above and everyone except for the Pioneer and Ivy League. One of these teams might make a run and get a shoutout from ESPN once or twice a year, but they'll never be on network TV - except as a sacrificial lamb to one of the big 4, if they're lucky enough to get that far in the playoffs. I'll include the SWAC and MEAC here because even though they don't participate in the bracket, they have their own championship and following.

3 - The Pioneer League. DIII football under the DI banner. This league wouldn't exist if it weren't for the member schools wanting DI basketball. There's no brand recognition, no airtime - it's just "there" at the absolute bottom of DI - and frankly shouldn't be DI at all. Since their formation in 1991 - member schools have only won two games in the FCS playoffs. In fact, no PFL team made the FCS tournament between 1991-2012, this only changed in 2013 because they were awarded an autobid. Playoff games are usually a guaranteed loss and more often than not are a significant blowout.

Wild Card - The Ivy League does not participate in the FCS postseason. In terms of football, they are often just "there" on their own little island. Academically speaking, their brand recognition is worldwide. They don't really fit into any category and kind of exist off to the side.

Excellent summary. D2 also has its levels. And then there's the very weird world of Division III. In this world, the athletes often comprise half or more of the student body. And with some schools, "non-athletic scholarship" is a mere technicality. Several schools in Texas have rosters plenty sufficient to immediately be nationally relevant in D2. They do this by awarding good athletes the "John Doe Community Leadership" scholarship, etc. Load them up on Pell Grants and loans for the rest, and you've got a bunch of scholarship athletes. UMHB, Hardin Simmons, and East Texas Baptist are the main ones in Texas. The athletes are literally keeping these schools' doors open. As such, the curriculums are dumbed down so that the ballers can pass and keep "play'n and pay'n to keep the parade go'in".

That's pretty sick-o in and of itself.

[Rockofwesties]

Veteran Sports reporter Tim Brando is reporting that NCAA will not be around by the 2026 Football season. He predicts that SEC and Big 10 are going to break away and do their own thing and generate 80 million per year for each member school.

[MooseLodge]

Veteran Sports reporter Tim Brando is reporting that NCAA will not be around by the 2026 Football season. He predicts that SEC and Big 10 are going to break away and do their own thing and generate 80 million per year for each member school.

Link?

[Turbonium]

Link?

I'll feed you baby bird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGXT...nnel=365Sports

[tsull]

I believe Tim Brando is right it's only about money. If they could throw in drugs and prostitutes into the scholarship realm they would do that. These college presidents have no shame and neither do the athletic directors. My only wish to say do it sooner rather than later. Quit teasing all these schools that can't keep up with 40 million dollar coaches and 50 million dollar players. Just get it over with.

[Herb Street]

I'll feed you baby bird. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGXT...nnel=365Sports

Thanks. I like Tim Brando.

[Herb Street]

Veteran Sports reporter Tim Brando is reporting that NCAA will not be around by the 2026 Football season. He predicts that SEC and Big 10 are going to break away and do their own thing and generate 80 million per year for each member school.

Not quite what he said. He said it is, in his opinion, unlikely that the NCAA will have governance over D1 football and basketball by that time. He also mentioned the Big 10 and SEC "leading the way" in breaking from the NCAA. That's very old news and would likely involve several conferences. In that event, there would be collective bargaining, rather than the free-for-all that we have right now.

[Goods]

I believe Tim Brando is right it's only about money. If they could throw in drugs and prostitutes into the scholarship realm they would do that. These college presidents have no shame and neither do the athletic directors. My only wish to say do it sooner rather than later. Quit teasing all these schools that can't keep up with 40 million dollar coaches and 50 million dollar players. Just get it over with.

I think it's pathetic and has ruined DI for me. My only wish was that they would make football completely separate from everything else, so Pac 12 teams (UWashington softball for example) don't have to travel to freaking New Jersey to play Rutgers and maybe the Pac 12 or whatever it would be after a couple of defections would still remain.

[Herb Street]

I think it's pathetic and has ruined DI for me. My only wish was that they would make football completely separate from everything else, so Pac 12 teams (UWashington softball for example) don't have to travel to freaking New Jersey to play Rutgers and maybe the Pac 12 or whatever it would be after a couple of defections would still remain.

I suspect you might see some of that. Regional conferences for everything but football.