Sacramento State calls off spring FB season

[Laker]

https://hornetsports.com/sports/fball/2020-21/releases/20201015i09uoy

[Professor]

Interesting. I wonder who else goes down this road

[Schism55]

Interesting. I wonder who else goes down this road

https://twitter.com/SamHerderFCS/status/1316779348809089024

[Anthony215]

Many schools probably look at it as if they're saving money on the Fall 2020 traveling why not hold that money in reserves and just start up the 2021 season in August 2021. It will bite them in the rears with having essentially 3 senior classes in one with the c/o 2020 (December), 2021 (Spring) and 2021 (Fall) all being on the roster in August.

[NDB]

The math is entirely different if you make money on football.

Sacramento State is ahead because they are reducing costs, NDSU is screwed because we are losing revenue.

[Mocs123]

I'm surprised any FCS school makes money on football, but if NDSU does, along with say a Montana, might be the only ones.

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

Only the beginning....

[wapiti]

Will Sac's games be counted as a forfeit? or did they back out before the schedule was prepared?

Might any players on Sac's team look to transfer?

[Sader87]

There is not going to be any FCS football in the Spring of 2021....who's kidding whom???

[KPSUL]

https://twitter.com/SamHerderFCS/status/1316779348809089024

Looks like the other 6 opting out of a Spring schedule will have played at least 4 games in the Fall.

[Pinnum]

Looks like the other 6 opting out of a Spring schedule will have played at least 4 games in the Fall.

Honestly, I think they are going to be the big winners.

They will be recruiting when others are playing games. And recruits have been watching them play games now (often against FBS schools). So they were getting paychecks to play rather than paying for a season. The spring season will cost money and they can save that money by moving forward. Everyone gets a redshirt year so you come back with your players either way but now you have a jump on recruiting.

[Schism55]

https://twitter.com/SamHerderFCS/status/1318206787682795530

[Professor Chaos]

Honestly, I think they are going to be the big winners.

They will be recruiting when others are playing games. And recruits have been watching them play games now (often against FBS schools). So they were getting paychecks to play rather than paying for a season. The spring season will cost money and they can save that money by moving forward. Everyone gets a redshirt year so you come back with your players either way but now you have a jump on recruiting.
A lot more college football recruiting is happening right now than would traditionally happen from March-May so I don't think the recruiting advantage will be much for teams who are opting out. In fact the schools who are playing in the spring could use it to their advantage by getting their games visible to recruits in the spring and playing towards the fact that they're on the field while the schools opting out are not. Most high school recruits just want to play football. Of course this all depends on a spring season actually happening and whether it does is anyone's guess at this point.

Also, I'd suspect a good chunk (maybe even the majority) of the players at this level getting an extra year of eligibility due to this season are going to have to make a choice in their 6th year about whether they want to play one more year and pay their own way or start the rest of their lives. FCS football is a money loser for most schools the way it is and budgets are going to be tightened even more once we come out the other side of this so I doubt very many FCS schools will increase scholarships to account for the extra year that the NCAA is granting everyone.

[Professor Chaos]

Also, in regards to Towson opting out, IIRC they were one of several CAA teams mentioned as trying to push for an independent football schedule this fall after the CAA announced last summer that no conference schedule would be played in the fall.

Here's Sam Herder's tweet on it from July 17th
https://twitter.com/SamHerderFCS/status/1284122863805632517

I wonder if their admin/staff just really wasn't a fan of trying to cram a spring season in and then coming right back to play again in the fall of 2021???

[Libertine]

https://twitter.com/SamHerderFCS/status/1318206787682795530



This tweet as well as Towson's official statement are more than a bit misleading.

https://towsontigers.com/news/2020/10/19/football-statement-from-towsonuniversity-athletics.aspx


Abilene Christian, Campbell, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Houston Baptist, Old Dominion, Sacramento State and Stephen F. Austin have all opted out of a potential spring football season in 2021.

Six of those eight schools opted out of the spring so that they could play NOW.

[FUBeAR]

This tweet as well as Towson's official statement are more than a bit misleading.

https://towsontigers.com/news/2020/10/19/football-statement-from-towsonuniversity-athletics.aspx



Six of those eight schools opted out of the spring so that they could play NOW.

This is some interesting ‘linguistic gymnastics’ also...

”We surveyed the guys, more than 75% of the team did not want to trade a full season next year for a six-game season this spring. After listening to the players, I could not come up with a good reason on why we should do this."

”Trade a full season?” - there will not be a single team playing this Spring (if any Teams play) that is even thinking about “trading” out their Fall 2021 Season (if there is a Fall 2021 season) to play this Spring. And with the NCAA’s “You get a redshirt and you get a redshirt! Everybody gets a redshirt!!” policy, there is no “trade” of eligibility. So, if they presented it to their Players as ‘one season or the other,’ I’m surprised they didn’t get HIGHER than 75% wanting to play next Fall (only).

Now, if they are alluding to the “Trade” meaning...”You might get hurt during a game in the Spring and have to miss the Fall season.” OK. But you also might get hurt in Spring Practice or in a Lab Accident or a Lightning strike...right?

And, why are they saying 6 games in the Spring? The CAA plan allows them to play 2 OOC games, in addition to the 6 CAA games. So, it’s 8 games vs. 11 games...if you ‘buy’ the tradeoff positioning. If I hadn’t played a Football Game since 11/23/19, I know I’d sure rather start playing 8 games in Feb of 2021 than going almost 2 years without playing against an opponent...just to wait for the chance to, maybe, play 3 more games...8 months later.

Just odd, the way they have positioned this. CovidWorld = BizarroWorld

[Sader87]

Expecting to play a 6, 8 or 10 game Spring season and then expecting them to play a full season in the Fall of 2021, although it could be done, is asking a lot of these kids, schools etc.

God willing, we'll see a full season starting next Fall.

[FUBeAR]

Expecting to play a 6, 8 or 10 game Spring season and then expecting them to play a full season in the Fall of 2021, although it could be done, is asking a lot of these kids, schools etc.

God willing, we'll see a full season starting next Fall.Nah...give me games or spring practice, I’m taking games every day of the week & twice on Sunday.

[Anthony215]

Expecting to play a 6, 8 or 10 game Spring season and then expecting them to play a full season in the Fall of 2021, although it could be done, is asking a lot of these kids, schools etc.

God willing, we'll see a full season starting next Fall.

What's wrong with 4 games in the spring, even if you do home and home games, allows the 2016 (5th year seniors) to get a senior day and finish their college careers out while pro prospects get additional film for scouts. The 2017 signees retain eligibility for playing in the spring and if they do well some may opt to try their pro luck others may return in the fall with their classmates for a re-do senior year. Still can bring in a full 2021 recruiting class and be in compliance when scholarship numbers are dropped back down to 63 in 2023. The extra 4 games aren't too taxing when you think about it, it's pretty much spring football which is about 6 weeks with spring break in between. Most teams won't be in the playoffs in 2021 so that year would be 18 games max which many played in high school. Non Playoff teams you're playing 14 games (10 in fall and 4 in the spring).

[Mocs123]

...when scholarship numbers are dropped back down to 63 in 2023.

I've heard nothing about the NCAA allowing over 63 scholarships for any year - did I miss an announcement?

[Libertine]

I've heard nothing about the NCAA allowing over 63 scholarships for any year - did I miss an announcement?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ncaa-eligibility-ruling-solves-some-problems-creates-others/2020/08/21/ee482ccc-e3eb-11ea-82d8-5e55d47e90ca_story.html

The NCAA announced that seniors don't count against roster limits or scholarship numbers for 2021-22.

[Bisonoline]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ncaa-eligibility-ruling-solves-some-problems-creates-others/2020/08/21/ee482ccc-e3eb-11ea-82d8-5e55d47e90ca_story.html

The NCAA announced that seniors don't count against roster limits or scholarship numbers for 2021-22.

They are finally getting something right.

[wapiti]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/ncaa-eligibility-ruling-solves-some-problems-creates-others/2020/08/21/ee482ccc-e3eb-11ea-82d8-5e55d47e90ca_story.html

The NCAA announced that seniors don't count against roster limits or scholarship numbers for 2021-22.

It will be interesting to see how many seniors stay on for another year and how many graduate and/or move on with life.

[Libertine]

It will be interesting to see how many seniors stay on for another year and how many graduate and/or move on with life.

Bear in mind that there is nothing compelling schools to give second-run seniors a scholarship any more than any other player. Most coaching staffs plot their available scholarships on a 4-5 year cycle and, for a cash-strapped school or a limited-schollie school using equivalencies, it might be in their best interest to thank the player for his service and help him find somewhere else to play.