Birth of I-AA/FCS

[TexasTerror]

Saw this posted on another board. It's dated, but it is an interesting read nonetheless that had quite a few facts that I was not that aware of beforehand...such as the SLC being one of the few conferences with a bowl tie-in, a bowl they created nonetheless...

http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/wac/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=2619&sid=2bbb8e68057369dde098c4e06bf04b67

[Model Citizen]

Whatever happened to ArkStFan? Is he still around?

[Model Citizen]

...a quick look reveals that he still posts on the Sun Belt board.

[TexasTerror]

Whatever happened to ArkStFan? Is he still around?

He posts on the Univ of Central Arkansas board...

[LeopardFan04]

interesting history lesson...thanks for posting TT

[Mr. C]

There were actually quite a few inaccuracies in this. For example, the Heritage Bowl didn't keep SWAC and MEAC teams out of the playoffs. And some of the schools now in I-AA did have bowl tie-ins. For awhile, the SoCon sent its champion to the Tangerine Bowl (later the Citrus Bowl, not sure what corporate entity it is named after now). Interesting, none the less. By the way, an ABC television game between Appalachian State and The Citadel was the final straw before the big boys sued the NCAA over the television contract. That game kept a Georgia-Oklahoma game from being televised.

[Model Citizen]

There were actually quite a few inaccuracies in this. For example, the Heritage Bowl didn't keep SWAC and MEAC teams out of the playoffs.

A quick check of the records shows that it did indeed keep them out of the playoffs. The first Heritage Bowl was 12-21-91, which conflicted with the I-AA championship on the same date.


For awhile, the SoCon sent its champion to the Tangerine Bowl ...

You missed the point, perhaps intentionally. He didn't say that no one who moved on to I-AA ever had a bowl tie in. He was talking about 1978 and the beginning of I-AA. The SoCon's tie-in with the Tangerine Bowl ended several years earlier.

[Mr. C]

A quick check of the records shows that it did indeed keep them out of the playoffs. The first Heritage Bowl was 12-21-91, which conflicted with the I-AA championship on the same date.



You missed the point, perhaps intentionally. He didn't say that no one who moved on to I-AA ever had a bowl tie in. He was talking about 1978 and the beginning of I-AA. The SoCon's tie-in with the Tangerine Bowl ended several years earlier.
I wasn't missing ANY points. I simply was saying that some of those other conferences did have bowl tie-ins. The Southland had one for the Independence Bowl, for example. And there were SWAC and MEAC teams in the playoffs throughout the 1990s. A lot of times (if not always, I'll let my HBCU historians address this), they were sending their second-place teams to the Heritage Bowl. Considering that a SWAC team has NEVER won a single playoff game, saying the championship game was on the same day isn't much of a conflict.

[blackfordpu]

Saw this posted on another board. It's dated, but it is an interesting read nonetheless that had quite a few facts that I was not that aware of beforehand...such as the SLC being one of the few conferences with a bowl tie-in, a bowl they created nonetheless...

http://www.ncaabbs.com/forums/wac/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=2619&sid=2bbb8e68057369dde098c4e06bf04b67

What bowl?

[TexasTerror]

What bowl?

SLC founded the Independence Bowl in Shreveport so our conference would have a post season bowl game...

SLC went 2-3, winning the first two games in the history of the bowl game and then lost the final three appearances by SLC teams before we went I-AA...

McNeese beat Tulsa
LA Tech beat Louisville
East Carolina beat LA Tech
Syracuse beat McNeese
Southern Miss bet McNeese

[HIU 93]

This post has several inaccuracies. The MEAC never pulled out of the playoffs as the article contends.