How's the Name Change Going?

[TexasTerror]

So, how's the name change going a few months in?

The NCAA seems to be doing a fine job on their side of things. Seems everything is converted over to the Championship Subdivision moniker...

Seems most media are still putting out I-AA as the nomenclature of our favorite subdivision, the Associated Press at the top of this list. Seems FCS hot beds like Boone, NC and Fargo, ND are among the leaders in promoting the new name appropriately in articles out in the media.

Thoughts on your fan base. Are they getting the message?

Most of the fans here seem to have gotten it. I'm seeing PCS (Playoff Championship Subdivision) every now and then, plus lots of folks who still are bit by the I-AA bug. Most aggravating of all is the folks on the Texas State board who continue talking about 'moving up' to Division I. FCS is Division I, fellas!

[GoldandBlack]

I think FCS is going to be like the dollar coin- it's officially minted, and will be circulated, but everyone will still commonly use the older version because it's comfortable and more convenient. (Plus, when you use the older one, other people will actually know what it is.) :D

[PantherRob82]

FCS confuses a lot of people I talk to. I still try to educate though.

[SuperJon]

We all think FCS is stupid.

No one here uses it.

My department chair made fun of the NCAA for changing it.

I like it that way.

[*****]

I think FCS is going to be like the dollar coin...Except in this case there is no alternative.

[*****]

We all think FCS is stupid.
No one here uses it.
My department chair made fun of the NCAA for changing it.
I like it that way.You are from Liberty right? No comment.

[appsfan]

Friends I talk to who follow FCS are familiar with the name, but some still use the I-AA term and the more hardcore fans use FCS consistently. The typical casual football fan who primarily follows BCS seems clueless in most cases to using FCS versus I-AA.

[SuperJon]

You are from Liberty right? No comment.

A rose by any other name would still be a rose.


I love the quality of football and enjoy watching "FCS" games more than "FBS," but the name change is stupid.

[ngineer]

Numbskulls at the Allentown Morning Call still refer to I-AA and 1-AA...I've written to the sports editor. Might at well talk to a wall...xsmhx

[SuperJon]

I will correct anyone who says 1A or 1AA though.

[LeopardFan04]

Numbskulls at the Allentown Morning Call still refer to I-AA and 1-AA...I've written to the sports editor. Might at well talk to a wall...xsmhx


Don't get me started on the Call...xrotatehx

[Keeper]

I've been saying, let's see when the national
preview magazines come out in June and
whether those correspondents and editors
have been properly edjamakated. xrolleyesx

[Seahawks Fan]

I say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[Ivytalk]

Most of the fans here seem to have gotten it. I'm seeing PCS (Playoff Championship Subdivision) every now and then, plus lots of folks who still are bit by the I-AA bug. Most aggravating of all is the folks on the Texas State board who continue talking about 'moving up' to Division I. FCS is Division I, fellas!

That's the worst! Makes me think of cell phones...xrolleyesx

[89Hen]

You are from Liberty right? No comment.
xeyebrowx xnonox

Smack board is over there ------------->

[89Hen]

Numbskulls at the Allentown Morning Call still refer to I-AA and 1-AA...I've written to the sports editor. Might at well talk to a wall...xsmhx
Maybe I could get a job there... I still refuse to call it anything but I-AA.

[PantherRob82]

I think regardless of the name people will still not realize the subdivision is as good as it is.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

I think it is silly to get overly worked up over simple semantics as it relates to our division. We could it LSD for all I care....

The Lesser Scholarship Division

I'm just happy that my school, and most of the schools in our division can compete for a true championship and still maintain integrity by fielding true student athletes.

[SuperJon]

Maybe I could get a job there... I still refuse to call it anything but I-AA.

You are from Delaware right? No comment.

[GoldandBlack]

Except in this case there is no alternative.

Unfortunately, from the posts in the thread, the alternative is still I-AA. Although it technically no longer exists, it apparently does practically.

[Dukie95]

At the JMU event last night, our athletic director referred to it as simply "two A". Not even "division 1, two A", or "one two A". It was just "two A".

I'm not a fanatic about the new name, because I still find the old system easier, but even under the old name system that would have driven me crazy.

[LegacyDuke08]

89 you could work for the Morning Call. Its Nationally recognized for NOTHING. We just have bad papers in that area. The Express Times ain't that great either. I can deal with the call when they put stuff about JMU in there. Usually about Ray Barbosa or some girl that signed to play Volleyball or football dealing with Lehigh/Lafayette but overall it sucks.

FCS....I-AA...what's the difference? Its the same great football under a new name. Find something else to complain about.

[henfan]

The Dover and Wilmington (DE) newspapers have gotten right since Dec. Is it really that difficult to master a simple acronym change, especially for professionals whose jobs depend on proper word useage? Schnikees.

[*****]

Smack board is over there ------------->"No comment" is smack? xsmhx xsmhx xsmhx

[Pard4Life]

I hate this name change... I still see it as 'I-AA' in places, and people don't know what I'm talking about when I say FCS.. and they think BCS refers to the bowls..

[*****]

... FCS....I-AA...what's the difference? Its the same great football under a new name. Find something else to complain about.1. It's the first name change ever for D-I championship football.
2. We are obviously fanatical about our college football.
3. It's the off-season.
4. There is such a looooong history of media etc. messing up the names.
5. It's an interesting sociological change to observe.

[LBPop]

I've always been a little uneasy with the name change. It comes off sounding a little defensive to me--as though we were saying, "Yeah, but we have real championship and you don't" Truthfully it doesn't bother me much, but I do have a technical question. What division does the Ivy League play in? They fit right into I-AA, but since they refuse to partcipate in the championship playoffs, how can they be part of the "Championship" division? xrolleyesx

[CSUBUCDAD]

Still waiting on the Post and Courier sports jocks to get it right here in Chucktown.

[*****]

... What division does the Ivy League play in?...The Ivy League supports NCAA Division I football in the Championship Subdivision. They currently opt out of participating in the championship tournament.

[McTailGator]

So, how's the name change going a few months in?

The NCAA seems to be doing a fine job on their side of things. Seems everything is converted over to the Championship Subdivision moniker...

Seems most media are still putting out I-AA as the nomenclature of our favorite subdivision, the Associated Press at the top of this list. Seems FCS hot beds like Boone, NC and Fargo, ND are among the leaders in promoting the new name appropriately in articles out in the media.

Thoughts on your fan base. Are they getting the message?

Most of the fans here seem to have gotten it. I'm seeing PCS (Playoff Championship Subdivision) every now and then, plus lots of folks who still are bit by the I-AA bug. Most aggravating of all is the folks on the Texas State board who continue talking about 'moving up' to Division I. FCS is Division I, fellas!


It will take time.


BUT, one of the main reasons McNeese officials pushed so hard for the name change is to make it much more difficult for FBS schools that we recruit against to go into a recruits home that they know we have been into and try to convince that recuit and his parents that McNeese is not Division I. In fact it was a tactic used often by coach's from ULL, and ULM, from the SunBelt, and even LaTech, and Tulane within our own state.

Now our coach's can tell that same recruit and his parent(s) (often a single mom), that one good reason to not let your kid go there is the fact that those other coaches were trying to mis-lead you into thinking McNeese was anything but Division I.xnonox

From what I understand, it worked last year in at least one case. Our coaches are convinced it will even the playing field in our recruiting efforts vs those FBS schools.

[Seahawks Fan]

It will take time.


BUT, one of the main reasons McNeese officials pushed so hard for the name change is to make it much more difficult for FBS schools that we recruit against to go into a recruits home that they know we have been into and try to convince that recuit and his parents that McNeese is not Division I. In fact it was a tactic used often by coach's from ULL, and ULM, from the SunBelt, and even LaTech, and Tulane within our own state.

Now our coach's can tell that same recruit and his parent(s) (often a single mom), that one good reason to not let your kid go there is the fact that those other coaches were trying to mis-lead you into thinking McNeese was anything but Division I.xnonox

From what I understand, it worked last year in at least one case. Our coaches are convinced it will even the playing field in our recruiting efforts vs those FBS schools.


This is the first explanation I've read that makes any sense. Good post. I still like the old name better.

[McTailGator]

This is the first explanation I've read that makes any sense. Good post. I still like the old name better.


If you look at the origin of trying to take the A's out of Division I, it started with the last SLC commisioner (Greg Stankey). McNeese was one of the primary driving force in getting him to start the movement.

Recruiting down in Louisiana and Texas is very compeditive. Louisiana has only 5 Million people but yet we have 11 schools that play Division I Football and another, the University of New Orleans, that is Division I but does not have a football team. Base ball and basketball are their primary sports.

The SLC and the Sun Belt go head to head for atheltes. And their coach's are indeed famous for going into houses of recruits and convincing some single mom that does not know the difference between football and golf , that they don't want their little baby boy going to something other than a Division I school. And our coaches have had an up hill battle trying to convince those momma's that their babies are indeed going to a Division I program.

I just wanted the A's gone and just call us all Division I. Period.

The FBS and FCS exist so they could segregate statistics, which I don't see a good reason to segregate anyway. You either shoot for the playoffs, a Bowl game, or you choose to stay home.

[TexasTerror]

Recruiting down in Louisiana and Texas is very compeditive. Louisiana has only 5 Million people but yet we have 11 schools that play Division I Football and another, the University of New Orleans, that is Division I but does not have a football team. Base ball and basketball are their primary sports.

What about Centenary? :)

[McTailGator]

What about Centenary? :)

That's right.

No football, but they play D-I Baseball and Basketball. So that is 13 Division I programs in a state of about 5 million.

[Kill'em]

Personally, I find I-AA easier to relate in conversation. When I mention FCS, folks have no clue what I mean. Well, lots of them consider us to be D-II. Even the local media still call us I-AA.

As for our fan base, there is a growing faction that doesn't care what it is called because they feel the FCS is the abyss of college football.

[henfan]

I think it's a little silly to presume that the new acronym is going to dominate popular useage after only 5 months from rollout. By its nature, the I-AA/FCS subdivision doesn't have widespread popularity to begin with. Give it time, people. Cripes, the subdivision has played exactly one game using the FCS title so far. Let's evaluate how the change is going after 1 or 2 seasons.

That said, the media should be held to a higher standard than the general public. They are in the semantics business and have an obligation to get it right.