SI explains the I-A/I-AA split

[Go Green]

I found this 1978 article explaining the I-A/I-AA split to be fascinating and mostly prescient.

https://www.si.com/vault/1978/01/23/106772446/the-ncaa-splits-its-decision

[ElCid]

I found this 1978 article explaining the I-A/I-AA split to be fascinating and mostly prescient.

https://www.si.com/vault/1978/01/23/106772446/the-ncaa-splits-its-decision


Good article. Thanks.

[Derby City Duke]

That was a good read; I had forgotten that Richmond and Bill & Mary had been in the SoCon.

[The Boogie Down]

I found this 1978 article explaining the I-A/I-AA split to be fascinating and mostly prescient.

https://www.si.com/vault/1978/01/23/106772446/the-ncaa-splits-its-decision


Surprised this didn't get more comments. Maybe it will now since it's more of an off-season subject. Anyway, interesting read although the author (a Miami grad who helped Bear Bryant with his biography) seems to have a slight I-A bias. Wonder how many schools have been I-AA since 1978 and, in looking back now, if their fans think the split was all for the best? Would things have been better without an official split and with the entire I-AA world operating the way G-5 currently does? Would be cool to get others takes, especially those who were around then, on the split.

An aside, funny how so many of the I-AA schools mentioned (like San Jose State, Ball State, Marshall and Boise State) have since moved up.

[JALMOND]

Surprised this didn't get more comments. Maybe it will now since it's more of an off-season subject. Anyway, interesting read although the author (a Miami grad who helped Bear Bryant with his biography) seems to have a slight I-A bias. Wonder how many schools have been I-AA since 1978 and, in looking back now, if their fans think the split was all for the best? Would things have been better without an official split and with the entire I-AA world operating the way G-5 currently does? Would be cool to get others takes, especially those who were around then, on the split.

An aside, funny how so many of the I-AA schools mentioned (like San Jose State, Ball State, Marshall and Boise State) have since moved up.



This was 40 years ago and, my opinion, it would have happened eventually; if not then, then probably when ESPN came on the scene. Interesting when the article mentions "TV package" as the dollar explosion brought about by ESPN (and other networks) hadn't happened (and couldn't have even been imagined back then). I know Portland State was 1-AA back then, but soon decided to drop back down to DII shortly after, then returned to DI status (and 1-AA) in 1996. We saw another "split", so to say, just recently with the emergence of the P5/G5 within D1-A. I'm also thinking another split is just on the horizon, possibly involving some of the G5 schools and the upper FCS schools.

[Lion1983]

This was 40 years ago and, my opinion, it would have happened eventually; if not then, then probably when ESPN came on the scene. Interesting when the article mentions "TV package" as the dollar explosion brought about by ESPN (and other networks) hadn't happened (and couldn't have even been imagined back then). I know Portland State was 1-AA back then, but soon decided to drop back down to DII shortly after, then returned to DI status (and 1-AA) in 1996. We saw another "split", so to say, just recently with the emergence of the P5/G5 within D1-A. I'm also thinking another split is just on the horizon, possibly involving some of the G5 schools and the upper FCS schools.

I don't think it will be a split, as much as a merger. Don't think it would be a good idea to have 3 distinct D1 football sub groups.

I know there is, but FBS is still considered 1. And, even though some don't agree, a UCF, Boise State, Memphis and so on can theoretical compete for the National Championship (that is technically not recognized by the NCAA).

If you made the G5 and "upper FCS" it's own deal, eventually, you will have the bottom of that class, complaining, saying they need to split so they can be competitive and the top of the other FCS saying, We can compete with them, why are we not there.

I say make it a true FBS and FCS. My opinion, the Sun Belt, half or better of C-USA, the MAC and most of the MWC should be in FCS. I personally don't like watching non meaningful bowl games with schools who just broke .500 to get in and 2000 (if that) fans in the stands.

I also don't think JMU or NDSU should be interested in going FBS, App St and Georgia Southern, Liberty and Coastal all should have stayed to see (and show) how good FCS football could really be.

Just my opinion, but I'm a grass roots person anyway.

[NY Crusader 2010]

I don't think it will be a split, as much as a merger. Don't think it would be a good idea to have 3 distinct D1 football sub groups.

I say make it a true FBS and FCS. My opinion, the Sun Belt, half or better of C-USA, the MAC and most of the MWC should be in FCS. I personally don't like watching non meaningful bowl games with schools who just broke .500 to get in and 2000 (if that) fans in the stands.

I also don't think JMU or NDSU should be interested in going FBS, App St and Georgia Southern, Liberty and Coastal all should have stayed to see (and show) how good FCS football could really be.

Just my opinion, but I'm a grass roots person anyway.

MAC, Sun Belch and C-USA are the same level as P5 schools on paper only. The Valley is ranked more highly than these conferences most years, I believe. Send these guys down -- I think their fans would realize quickly that competing for a national title is far more rewarding than competing in bowl games in Mobile, Alabama or in empty stadiums in Detroit and New Orleans. And the big schools have the bowls rigged. Unless you end up in or near the Top 10, you don't even get a bowl game against a big name from a power conference and a chance to prove yourself against the big boys. All these schools just end up playing each other in glorified exhibitions in mid-December in the middle of the day on ESPN when most can't even watch because we are still at work.

MWC and AAC should stay up top and make it a P7. Drop the other three down.

[The Boogie Down]

MAC, Sun Belch and C-USA are the same level as P5 schools on paper only. The Valley is ranked more highly than these conferences most years, I believe. Send these guys down -- I think their fans would realize quickly that competing for a national title is far more rewarding than competing in bowl games in Mobile, Alabama or in empty stadiums in Detroit and New Orleans. And the big schools have the bowls rigged. Unless you end up in or near the Top 10, you don't even get a bowl game against a big name from a power conference and a chance to prove yourself against the big boys. All these schools just end up playing each other in glorified exhibitions in mid-December in the middle of the day on ESPN when most can't even watch because we are still at work.

MWC and AAC should stay up top and make it a P7. Drop the other three down.


Could not agree more. More importantly, Sagarin, who rated the "Sun Belch" on par w/the Ivies, agrees too. Sagarin link: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/sagarin/2017/team/

MWC (too bad BYU ain't in the mix anymore) would be the only truly questionable addition to a "P-7" landscape. Still, Boise St and Air Force have done a lot more over the years than the usual cast of P-5 cellar dwellers like Oregon State, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Rutgers etc., etc.

Moving down the bottom G-5 leagues would also add more talent to the FCS which would hopefully then get weaker conferences like the Patsies to step up their game.

[DFW HOYA]

MAC, Sun Belch and C-USA are the same level as P5 schools on paper only. The Valley is ranked more highly than these conferences most years, I believe.


MAC schools are a step above these schools. The problem with C-USA is its mix between I-AA step-ups (UTSA, Old Dominion, Charlotte) and legitimate I-A programs that were left behind in the food chain (Rice, UTEP, Marshall). Rice was playing big time football before six C-USA schools were even founded.

True story: A decade ago, Rice undertook a study whether to maintain I-A football or maintain Division I sports at all. Among the options considered, and then quickly taken off the table: joining the Patriot League.

[Go Green]

True story: A decade ago, Rice undertook a study whether to maintain I-A football or maintain Division I sports at all. Among the options considered, and then quickly taken off the table: joining the Patriot League.

Hindsight is 20/20, but I wonder if Rice would have been better off joining Conference USA from the get-go instead of the WAC.

[DFW HOYA]

Hindsight is 20/20, but I wonder if Rice would have been better off joining Conference USA from the get-go instead of the WAC.

Conference USA was formed as a merger of the Metro (formerly Metro 7) and the basketball schools of the Great Midwest (DePaul, Marquette, Dayton, UAB.) They had invited Houston when Houston did not get a WAC invite, but to be fair, the WAC was a stronger entity in 1995 than it turned out to be and C-USA didn't need two Houston schools.

The Metro 7 was one of the great what-ifs of sports. Not only had they proposed a 16 team eastern superconference that went nowhere, the founding schools were a great football conference of their own, yet the Metro never sponsored football and lent themselves to getting these teams picked off, which they all did.

The original Metro 7 were Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Memphis, Tulane, St. Louis, and Florida State. Later entrants included Virginia Tech and South Carolina.

[Catamount87]

One of the best lines in the article...

• "The bigs will rip down all the restraints on spending, open the lid on scholarship limits, coaching staffs and recruiting costs."


Patently absurd.

Well, fast forward to today and this is exactly what we've been seeing. For the biggest conferences we have coaching salaries that are through the roof, athletes are now getting 'cost of attendance" stipends and recruiting budgets have gone crazy.

[bobcathpdevil56]

I also thought it was interesting that they mention Boise State v. Michigan State recruiting. Today, it is probably a whole lot closer of a recruiting battle then most of these gentlemen's would've thought.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

"In the past, when the bigger football schools were asked to swallow still another piece of unpalatable legislation—the "Robin Hood plan" to disperse television money across the board; the periodic moves to base scholarship grants on financial need (a move with vast potential for cheating)—they somehow managed to vote down the offending legislation."

Yes, how.. unpalatable.. to share TV money! In the end they had to give a crumb to the other schools, more because I think they are/were trying to avoid lawsuits rather than anything from the goodness of their own hearts. Of course, "somehow managing to vote down the legislation" - what a canard. With the money and power centered around the richest, most powerful schools, of course these things would be voted down.

"And two, a playoff similar to that in Divisions II and III has been formulated to provide a I-AA national championship and a $750,000 television payoff (coming from the Division I package recently signed with ABC). Under the old structure, most I-AA schools could expect never to see the inside of a bowl or the figures on a television check. I-AA schools also would be guaranteed regular-season telecasts."

Jimeny M. Christmas, what ever happened to the $750,000 kitty????? That would be the equivalent of $3 Million today.

[CHIP72]

"In the past, when the bigger football schools were asked to swallow still another piece of unpalatable legislation—the "Robin Hood plan" to disperse television money across the board; the periodic moves to base scholarship grants on financial need (a move with vast potential for cheating)—they somehow managed to vote down the offending legislation."

Yes, how.. unpalatable.. to share TV money! In the end they had to give a crumb to the other schools, more because I think they are/were trying to avoid lawsuits rather than anything from the goodness of their own hearts. Of course, "somehow managing to vote down the legislation" - what a canard. With the money and power centered around the richest, most powerful schools, of course these things would be voted down.

"And two, a playoff similar to that in Divisions II and III has been formulated to provide a I-AA national championship and a $750,000 television payoff (coming from the Division I package recently signed with ABC). Under the old structure, most I-AA schools could expect never to see the inside of a bowl or the figures on a television check. I-AA schools also would be guaranteed regular-season telecasts."

Jimeny M. Christmas, what ever happened to the $750,000 kitty????? That would be the equivalent of $3 Million today.

Read the Wikipedia entry on the 1984 case "NCAA vs Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma", and more specifically the subsection titled "District Court": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_v._Board_of_Regents_of_the_University_of_Okla homa

[Herder]

It’s all about scholarship levels imo. You won’t get G5 P5 games if the G5 schools move down from the 85 level. And, you won’t get a FCS G5 merger with one group at 63 and another at 85. That is the issue. And, P5 at 85 wants very little to do with playing the 63 level. Can any FCS’s afford to go up to even the 70 level to join some G5’s?

the best solution I see is . . . 3 Championships
D1 Level 1. Conferences. Scholarship Min. 80 max 85.
D1 Level 2. Conferences Min 70 max 85. Level 1 agrees to play them during regular season. can goto top level bowls if they qualify, otherwise playing for Nat Championship at this level.
D1 Level 3 Conferences. Min 0. Max 50. If the Ivies, MEAC and SWAC don’t participate, then do not have a championship at this level, top teams could join level 2 playoff maybe. 0 scholarship conferences would not be considered for Level 2 championship.

Yes, DI FCS Would be gone as we know it today.

[Lion1983]

It’s all about scholarship levels imo. You won’t get G5 P5 games if the G5 schools move down from the 85 level. And, you won’t get a FCS G5 merger with one group at 63 and another at 85. That is the issue. And, P5 at 85 wants very little to do with playing the 63 level. Can any FCS’s afford to go up to even the 70 level to join some G5’s?

the best solution I see is . . . 3 Championships
D1 Level 1. Conferences. Scholarship Min. 80 max 85.
D1 Level 2. Conferences Min 70 max 85. Level 1 agrees to play them during regular season. can goto top level bowls if they qualify, otherwise playing for Nat Championship at this level.
D1 Level 3 Conferences. Min 0. Max 50. If the Ivies, MEAC and SWAC don’t participate, then do not have a championship at this level, top teams could join level 2 playoff maybe. 0 scholarship conferences would not be considered for Level 2 championship.

Yes, DI FCS Would be gone as we know it today.

I think D1 should just be D1 (football) have as little scholarships as you want, understanding that if you choose less, you will more than likely not compete very well. If, for example UNA wanted to have 80 scholarships, so be it. But if they wanted 20, so be it. I honestly believe that when they put a limit on the number of scholarships, it was to help the "smaller schools" and the "big boys" didn't like that. So the splits happened.

That's my opinion in the last line, may not even go with the time line of everything. But it had to be talked about for years before it happened.

[Herder]

I think D1 should just be D1 (football) have as little scholarships as you want, understanding that if you choose less, you will more than likely not compete very well. If, for example UNA wanted to have 80 scholarships, so be it. But if they wanted 20, so be it. I honestly believe that when they put a limit on the number of scholarships, it was to help the "smaller schools" and the "big boys" didn't like that. So the splits happened.

That's my opinion in the last line, may not even go with the time line of everything. But it had to be talked about for years before it happened.

Having 1 champion for all of DI football is not enough imo, and 3 is probably too many. So where does the 2ndary championship best fit? Is it the current 0-63 scholarship level, or is a true 2nd Level G5/FCS combo level of 70-85 scholarships a better championship level?