Blue Hens Huddle

[superman7515]

Latest meeting between fans and coaches/AD had the a couple of snippets of interest. Delaware vs Pittsburgh is still a go, the buyout for Pitt is very large, so it sounds like a win-win there. Delaware has also signed contracts to play Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, while at the same time UD turned down Oklahoma because it doesn't fit the coaches interest in scheduling teams within UD's recruiting area. Also the AD said a facilities announcement was expected within a month, but no details were given on what kind of an announcement or an exact time frame, so the general consensus seems to be that it's not "the" announcement about the massive stadium upgrades.

[danefan]

Any talk about FBS?

[MplsBison]

I'm guessing based on the AD's comments, he has no interest in discussing that.

[superman7515]

Any talk about FBS?

Not that I'm aware of.

[YoUDeeMan]

Any talk about FBS?

Yes. Once again, both coach and AD emphatically said that moving to the Sun Belt was, "not moving up."

Z-daddy said that their best guess is that 3-4 years from now, only the 5, or maybe only 4, major conferences will be bringing in the big money...and that they would not be sharing that money. Thus, he anticipates that the smaller FBS teams/conferences and larger FCS teams will form a second tier of football.

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

Latest meeting between fans and coaches/AD had the a couple of snippets of interest. Delaware vs Pittsburgh is still a go, the buyout for Pitt is very large, so it sounds like a win-win there. Delaware has also signed contracts to play Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, while at the same time UD turned down Oklahoma because it doesn't fit the coaches interest in scheduling teams within UD's recruiting area. Also the AD said a facilities announcement was expected within a month, but no details were given on what kind of an announcement or an exact time frame, so the general consensus seems to be that it's not "the" announcement about the massive stadium upgrades.

Glad to see Brock has a greater willingness to play BCS teams than KCK did. Those games are almost always a loss but a great experience for the players and fans.

[bluehenbillk]

Yes. Once again, both coach and AD emphatically said that moving to the Sun Belt was, "not moving up."

Z-daddy said that their best guess is that 3-4 years from now, only the 5, or maybe only 4, major conferences will be bringing in the big money...and that they would not be sharing that money. Thus, he anticipates that the smaller FBS teams/conferences and larger FCS teams will form a second tier of football.

They are contractually obligated to "share" the money through 2026.

[henfan]

Z-daddy said that their best guess is that 3-4 years from now, only the 5, or maybe only 4, major conferences will be bringing in the big money...and that they would not be sharing that money. Thus, he anticipates that the smaller FBS teams/conferences and larger FCS teams will form a second tier of football.

What is Ziady talking about? This is the most distressing news of all and signals a rookie AD who's completely in over his head. Not a good sign for UD fans.

Schools that have made much more substantial investments and, in some cases, completely transformed their AD's to accommodate FBS FB, are not going to modify their athletic philosophies again for the sake of playing alongside FCS teams. With the current agreements in place among FBS conferences, there's little evidence that the economics for the lower FBS conferences will change all that much for at least the next 12 years. Those schools will still be receiving large payouts for guarantee games and small share of the BCS pie.

FCS schools like UD had better hope that more FBS conferences don't cut off the pipeline of guarantee games or their will be serious struggles for the entire subdivision.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

FCS schools like UD had better hope that more FBS conferences don't cut off the pipeline of guarantee games or their will be serious struggles for the entire subdivision.

I don't believe this will ever happen. The economics are far too advantageous for Alabama to schedule Western Carolina over Western Michigan.

[henfan]

I don't believe this will ever happen. The economics are far too advantageous for Alabama to schedule Western Carolina over Western Michigan.

We'll see, especially as FCS schools continue to reclassify. The economics obviously weren't advantageous enough for the Big 10 to implement its policy.

[danefan]

We'll see, especially as FCS schools continue to reclassify. The economics obviously weren't advantageous enough for the Big 10 to implement its policy.

Did the policy actaully get implemented? I've seen people on here saying it was just Alvarez talking.

[MplsBison]

Did the policy actaully get implemented? I've seen people on here saying it was just Alvarez talking.

I've seen that as well.

There are some instances where it makes sense, even for B1G schools, to schedule FCS games. Just like, it would be advantageous in some cases for FCS schools to schedule DII schools.

The kicker is going to be the postseason policy. In the FCS policy, playing a DII game is akin to playing with a diseased rodent from the county dump. In the FBS policy, one win over an FCS actually counts towards bowl eligibility if that team has enough scholarship equivalencies (and in rare cases, even though won't matter).

But if enough of the big time FBS schools can get the policy rewritten to remove FCS games from counting, things will change. It will have to be the B1G and the PAC, mainly ganging up to defeat the SEC in that regard.

You won't see any group of five FBS teams fighting the change as it would ensure more guarantee games for them and those games typically go for double what FCS teams get.