FCS to FBS just keeps getting tougher

[bonarae]

$5M exit fee plus a scholarship requirement across all 16+ sports, including football.

https://herosports.com/fee-to-transition-from-fcs-to-fbs-could-increase-bzbz/

[JSUSoutherner]

xpopcornx

[ElCid]

I get the scholly requirement, but the fee?! You got to be kidding me. Nothing like a good shakedown. Doesn't matter if it may still be considered chump change to some. It's the principle of now having pay 1,000 times what it used to cost. I see lawsuits on the horizon. $5,000 can be considered fair compensation for time spent by admin folks associated with the paperwork. $5M is a shakedown.

[taper]

I like dropping the 15k attendance. Half the G5 straight up lied about their numbers and in the era of streaming butts in seats means less every year.

[Laker]

$5000 seemed to low, but 5 million is quite a jump. The 15,000 attendance figure was always a joke.

[Puddin Tane]

I like it!

maybe it’ll keep some of the tom, dick, and sammys from leaving and becoming fbs bottom feeders….all for the chance of playing middleeastwestern michigan in the Harbor Freight/Little House on the Prarrie Bowl in Independence, Kansas

[Vandal03]

I like dropping the 15k attendance. Half the G5 straight up lied about their numbers and in the era of streaming butts in seats means less every year.

When Idaho was FBS I would argue Idaho belonged in FCS because the only way they met the 15k attendance requirement was by using former Enron accountants.

[Pards Rule]

When Idaho was FBS I would argue Idaho belonged in FCS because the only way they met the 15k attendance requirement was by using former Enron accountants.

Yeah its a sad statement on the farce of attendance keeping...As an aside Vandal, I live on Long Beach Island, NJ, shorthand LBI, (the island north of Atlantic City) and Im a 5 minute walk from the Atlantic Ocean. Recently what would appear about a dozen blocks north of me, that I noted driving, was an Idaho flag! If I see folks out of the house (now less likely as this island becomes very quiet in winter for us year-rounders) I will ask them whats your connection to Moscow?? Its kind of cool folks fly their college flags down here so you see the traditional Nova, Delaware, Princeton but what obviously gets my attention are the outliers - Idaho, SUNY Brockport, Manhattan, Indiana, Illinois, Catholic U. And yes a few blocks from me a homeowner hoists a Lafayette one with Michigan one, topped by US.

[walliver]

I personally think any FCS team should be allowed in FBS. Many of these moves are poorly informed, but if teams look forward to multiple losing seasons with a rare early December bowl game in an undesirable city, that doesn’t bother me.

There should be rules about D-1 since there is March Madness money in play. But people who don’t want FCS playoff involvement should not be forced to play. If the Ivies all go FBS but skip the bowls, would that be any different than what we have now?

[Ridge1982]

I wish the NCAA would end their stupid 4 year transition period rule. St. Thomas should’ve been a playoff team last year.

[kalm]

Will TV $’s offset this? If not, it’s tough to see many more moves up. That’s a good thing.

[caribbeanhen]

Will TV $’s offset this? If not, it’s tough to see many more moves up. That’s a good thing.

Why did the CAA add so many teams? Estate planning for the coming departures maybe

Maybe rumors of a mass exodus were swirling and the 5 million $ fee was put in to prevent it and who gets that money anyway

Prediction:
7 years from now Merrimack will be playing Valdosta St in the FCS finals

[TribeNomad1]

Why did the CAA add so many teams? Estate planning for the coming departures maybe

Maybe rumors of a mass exodus were swirling and the 5 million $ fee was put in to prevent it and who gets that money anyway

Prediction:
7 years from now Merrimack will be playing Valdosta St in the FCS finals


Blue and Gray bowl.

[JSUSoutherner]

I suspect if a school looks at the $5m fee and thinks "Good grief, that's a lot of money. Are they crazy? We can't afford this!" Then the $5m fee is doing exactly what the NCAA is intending.

[caribbeanhen]

Blue and Gray bowl.

Delaware and William & Mary meet in the BINGO bowl live from Retirement City, Florida

[JacksFan40]

I suspect if a school looks at the $5m fee and thinks "Good grief, that's a lot of money. Are they crazy? We can't afford this!" Then the $5m fee is doing exactly what the NCAA is intending.
This, it’s to stop schools who have no business moving up from trying to move up. Only a select few can probably afford the fee, and it’s the few schools who would actually be justified in moving up.

[caribbeanhen]

I suspect if a school looks at the $5m fee and thinks "Good grief, that's a lot of money. Are they crazy? We can't afford this!" Then the $5m fee is doing exactly what the NCAA is intending.

echo chamber post xcoffeex

who holds the 5 million anyway?

[Sir William]

I personally think any FCS team should be allowed in FBS. Many of these moves are poorly informed, but if teams look forward to multiple losing seasons with a rare early December bowl game in an undesirable city, that doesn’t bother me.

Couldn't agree more.

By the way, did you see the Jax State-MTSU game on ESPN last night? Empty stadium. And very likely, very little TV viewership. Why? Because nobody outside of Jacksonville AL and Murfreesboro TN gives a rip about these two "FBS" schools. Conference USA is a dumpster.

Seriously, there are some "traditional" FCS schools that have made the jump to FBS from FCS and it makes sense - App St, Marshall, Boise St, GA Southern, Coastal, JMU, even Liberty to name a few.

But Sam Houston? UMass? Kennesaw? What were/are they thinking?! Oh well, good luck to ya.

[caribbeanhen]

Couldn't agree more.

By the way, did you see the Jax State-MTSU game on ESPN last night? Empty stadium. And very likely, very little TV viewership. Why? Because nobody outside of Jacksonville AL and Murfreesboro TN gives a rip about these two "FBS" schools. Conference USA is a dumpster.

Seriously, there are some "traditional" FCS schools that have made the jump to FBS from FCS and it makes sense - App St, Marshall, Boise St, GA Southern, Coastal, JMU, even Liberty to name a few.

But Sam Houston? UMass? Kennesaw? What were/are they thinking?! Oh well, good luck to ya.

They we’re thinking it’s now or never and heard rumors about the 5 miilion dollar toll to cross the bridge and they didn’t have the money

[JSUSoutherner]

Couldn't agree more.

By the way, did you see the Jax State-MTSU game on ESPN last night? Empty stadium. And very likely, very little TV viewership. Why? Because nobody outside of Jacksonville AL and Murfreesboro TN gives a rip about these two "FBS" schools. Conference USA is a dumpster.

Seriously, there are some "traditional" FCS schools that have made the jump to FBS from FCS and it makes sense - App St, Marshall, Boise St, GA Southern, Coastal, JMU, even Liberty to name a few.

But Sam Houston? UMass? Kennesaw? What were/are they thinking?! Oh well, good luck to ya.
But you did watch our game?

[Libertine]

I wish the NCAA would end their stupid 4 year transition period rule. St. Thomas should’ve been a playoff team last year.

xcoffeex <sigh>

This again?

For the umpteenth time, transition rules exist because the different levels of competition within the overall NCAA structure have different rules for academic requirements, lengths of eligibility and financial aid. Allowing schools who have built their programs and recruited their rosters under the looser standards of D2 or D3 to compete for a championship against schools who have already been working within the more stringent standards of D1 would be categorically unfair.

Also, for the record, NCAA rules aren't made a formless, faceless beast simply known as "the NCAA". The NCAA is an association of the schools themselves, meaning that the rules that govern college athletics are made by representatives of the schools themselves. So, any coach who wants to whine about how bad the NCAA is screwing things up -- Mack Brown being a recent egregious example -- needs to simply turn their ass around and stomp their clodhoppers into their AD's office or their university president's office to complain about it because those are likely the people who wrote the rules in the first place.

[taper]

To my fellow Bison fans, be careful talking smack with JSU. In the modern era of NCAA(1973), they are the only​ team with a winning series record against us. That includes FBS.

[Sir William]

But you did watch our game?

Yeah, maybe about 10 minutes between commercials. Lost interest pretty quickly.

[Sitting Bull]

But you did watch our game?

I’ll admit I watched Q1. But rather than taking that as a positive, looking at the surroundings, I kept thinking Thank God my team isn’t in a league that has to play their games on Wednesday night. The atmosphere was like a flat tire.

[Nor Eastern]

To my fellow Bison fans, be careful talking smack with JSU. In the modern era of NCAA(1973), they are the only​ team with a winning series record against us. That includes FBS.

JSU is making a solid transition into CUSA as well and womped their MAC OOC opponent.

[Nor Eastern]

I’ll admit I watched Q1. But rather than taking that as a positive, looking at the surroundings, I kept thinking Thank God my team isn’t in a league that has to play their games on Wednesday night. The atmosphere was like a flat tire.


Not ever stadium is a ghost town on the week nights. I've seen some solid 22k-25k+ games on weeknights. MTSU is a ghost town on Saturdays too. When they hosted the CUSA championship a few years back they barely had 14k.

[wcugrad95]

I can't speak for many of the schools that have moved up, but I had a daughter who graduated from FAU 2 years ago. Her FR year was Lane Kiffen's first season as the coach. The team had 2 different 11-win seasons, 2 conference championships, 2 bowl games (one of them was in their home stadium for the Boca Bowl). The very first game played was a night game against Navy and it was nearly a sellout (~30k). I had season tickets for 3 years and I can promise you they might have announced crowds > 20k, but I don't think I ever saw more than about 15k butts-in-seats. And again, 2 of those years the team won 11 games. The "home" bowl game did not have more than 15k people. Even with that, FAU has now moved "up" into the AAC as teams from that conference moved "up" into the Big XII. The grass is not always greener, the crowds are not guaranteed to be better, and the travel with how wide these leagues are now is going to kill your non-revenue sports with costs and travel and hardship on those student-athletes.

But people are going to move - they always do.

[JacksFan40]

Couldn't agree more.

By the way, did you see the Jax State-MTSU game on ESPN last night? Empty stadium. And very likely, very little TV viewership. Why? Because nobody outside of Jacksonville AL and Murfreesboro TN gives a rip about these two "FBS" schools. Conference USA is a dumpster.

Seriously, there are some "traditional" FCS schools that have made the jump to FBS from FCS and it makes sense - App St, Marshall, Boise St, GA Southern, Coastal, JMU, even Liberty to name a few.

But Sam Houston? UMass? Kennesaw? What were/are they thinking?! Oh well, good luck to ya.
Wednesday night games tend to have poor attendance. Plus it was at MTSU and they are having a horrible season, can't imagine there was much excitement to watch them play a team they have next to zero history with.

Much like the FCS, there is a wide range of attendance numbers for the G5. Some schools struggle to pull 15k, while others like Fresno and App State get over 40k to their games. It's no different from the FCS where some struggle to get 5k while others get near 20k.

[JSUSoutherner]

I’ll admit I watched Q1. But rather than taking that as a positive, looking at the surroundings, I kept thinking Thank God my team isn’t in a league that has to play their games on Wednesday night. The atmosphere was like a flat tire.
Think that's more to do with MTSU than being Wednesday.

Check out the Jax games at home over the next two weeks and you'll likely see some pretty good crowds.

[JSUSoutherner]

JSU is making a solid transition into CUSA as well and womped their MAC OOC opponent.
Solid chance we have a rough next 4 weeks.

Everyone is quick to call CUSA trash but Liberty, WKU, and South Carolina over the next couple of weeks is going to be a real meat grinder. Wouldn't be surprised to see us go 1-3 over the next 4 games.

[wcugrad95]

I watched CUSA closely for 4 years. It was trash before, and several teams that were either pretty good/rising (FAU, UTSA, UAB) or had a little bit of history (Marshall, Southern Miss, etc.) moved out for the new teams to move in. In essence it is primarily a league of FCS schools or other schools that had moved up but probably shouldn't have (i.e. FIU, UTEP, etc.). It would be a really decent FCS league. It will consistently be ranked the 9th or 10th out of 10 FBS leagues.

Again not knocking any team for moving up if that is what their administration, donors, and fans decide to do. But how bad is it going to suck for New Mexico State's women's volleyball team or their baseball team to have to go play in Lynchburg, VA or Miami, FL for a Tuesday night contest? The Sun Belt seems to be similar with lots of teams that moved up, but that has a much better set of football schools and their divisions at least have some geographic sense.

Those two conference examples are what this thread should probably be more about. Is it worth $5M to move? For many schools the answer could be yes (it probably was for JMU, JSU, and some others - it clearly was for previous schools like App State and Marshall). But for a ton of schools the answer should undoubtedly be a resounding no.

[Nor Eastern]

he Sun Belt seems to be similar with lots of teams that moved up, but that has a much better set of football schools and their divisions at least have some geographic sense.

Those two conference examples are what this thread should probably be more about. Is it worth $5M to move? For many schools the answer could be yes (it probably was for JMU, JSU, and some others - it clearly was for previous schools like App State and Marshall). But for a ton of schools the answer should undoubtedly be a resounding no.



It seems that the eastern division of the Sun Belt is about as compact and like-minded as you'll find in the G5. All old FCS teams from either the CAA, SoCon, and Big South. Just about a bus league. I can't imagine the fanbases for any of those 7 schools regret their transition to FBS, even if it was a rocky start like for Georgia State.

[Sir William]

Wednesday night games tend to have poor attendance. Plus it was at MTSU and they are having a horrible season, can't imagine there was much excitement to watch them play a team they have next to zero history with.

Much like the FCS, there is a wide range of attendance numbers for the G5. Some schools struggle to pull 15k, while others like Fresno and App State get over 40k to their games. It's no different from the FCS where some struggle to get 5k while others get near 20k.

Agree.


Solid chance we have a rough next 4 weeks.

Everyone is quick to call CUSA trash but Liberty, WKU, and South Carolina over the next couple of weeks is going to be a real meat grinder. Wouldn't be surprised to see us go 1-3 over the next 4 games.

Yep, agree as well. I think we'll learn more about Jax State when you play Liberty and WKU (and vice versa). I don't expect the AL chickens to keep up with the SC chickens - and that's no slight to JSU. Nonetheless, the result of that one will not be as telling as the Liberty and WKU games (unless of course you guys upset Carolina).

[POD Knows]

I suspect if a school looks at the $5m fee and thinks "Good grief, that's a lot of money. Are they crazy? We can't afford this!" Then the $5m fee is doing exactly what the NCAA is intending.Would your broke assed college have moved up if that fee would have been in place, the NCAA should just call this rule the JKS rule.

[JSUSoutherner]

Would your broke assed college have moved up if that fee would have been in place, the NCAA should just call this rule the JKS rule.
We're in the middle of a $80m stadium upgrade. Something tells me $5m wouldn't have been a big deal.

[Go Green]

But Sam Houston? UMass? Kennesaw? What were/are they thinking?! Oh well, good luck to ya.

UMass was thinking that they wanted to be like UConn (which, at the time, was doing fairly well in I-A/FBS).

Needless to say, things didn't work out...

[clenz]

Couldn't agree more.

By the way, did you see the Jax State-MTSU game on ESPN last night? Empty stadium. And very likely, very little TV viewership. Why? Because nobody outside of Jacksonville AL and Murfreesboro TN gives a rip about these two "FBS" schools. Conference USA is a dumpster.

Seriously, there are some "traditional" FCS schools that have made the jump to FBS from FCS and it makes sense - App St, Marshall, Boise St, GA Southern, Coastal, JMU, even Liberty to name a few.

But Sam Houston? UMass? Kennesaw? What were/are they thinking?! Oh well, good luck to ya.
Because Murray State - Indiana State draws tens of thousands of eyeballs. Hell, people in Murray and Terre Haute don't even give a **** about that game and it's still broadcast nationally.


Fruman draws less than 10k a game and barely hits 60% capacity. Just 4 seasons ago you averaged 35% capacity. Probably shouldn't be throwing too many stones when it comes to people watching/attending games.

Outside of about 30-40 stadiums in the FBS and about 5 in the FCS no one is filling **** or getting meaningful eyeballs on TV (especailly the FBS)

Never forget that even the lowest rated FBS bowl game, that everyone bitches about and claims no one watches, out draws every single FCS playoff game every single year in attendance and eyeballs on TV with very very very few exceptions. There are something like 8-10 FCS games ever to beat even the lowest rated FBS bowl games for viewers, and all of those games involve maybe 4 different FCS schools to get the eye balls.

UNI games are empty when we play our longest standing rivals like SIU, MOSU, ISUr, and even the DSUs. I'll happily take an empty stadium in the FBS and a "meaningless bowl game" if it brings in revenue that we don't currently get. Empty is empty no matter what level you're at.

Also the fee to go from D2 to D1 is something like a million dollars so 5k for FCS to FBS was a bit a ****ing joke.

The fees to leave FCS conferences to to another FCS confereces are 750k+ and schools pay it - outside of JSU who tried to get out of paying it to the OVC.

[uni88]

Couldn't agree more.

By the way, did you see the Jax State-MTSU game on ESPN last night? Empty stadium. And very likely, very little TV viewership. Why? Because nobody outside of Jacksonville AL and Murfreesboro TN gives a rip about these two "FBS" schools. Conference USA is a dumpster.

Seriously, there are some "traditional" FCS schools that have made the jump to FBS from FCS and it makes sense - App St, Marshall, Boise St, GA Southern, Coastal, JMU, even Liberty to name a few.

But Sam Houston? UMass? Kennesaw? What were/are they thinking?! Oh well, good luck to ya.

Does Coastal belong in that group? They've been successful since moving up but prior to that they didn't have anywhere near the FCS/I-AA success of App St, Marshall, Boise St, GA Southern, or JMU.

Are they the "see they did it, we can do it too" example for Sam Houston, Kennesaw and JSU?

[Sir William]

Furman draws less than 10k a game and barely hits 60% capacity.

You are correct; and it kills me that we no longer draw 14k like we used to back in the day (when App and GaSo came to town, there would often be 16-17k in attendance - great days).

However, when you take into account our current average draw, you have to also account for the fact that Furman is a small liberal arts school with an annual student body size of about 2500 (and maybe less now). That's not an excuse - just a numerical fact. And that means that we also have a small alumni base. For us to get 10k people in our stands (or even close to that number) is a victory in itself in today's football climate. Added to that, if you ask anyone in the SoCon, they'll tell you that Furman fans (and possibly Citadel fans) show up to away games better than anyone else in the conference.

That said, the point of your overall post is well made.

[Sitting Bull]

So Furman with 2500 students averages about 10,000 a game. Middle Tennessee with 18,000 students averages about 14,000 per game.

[FUBeAR]

So Furman with 2500 students averages about 10,000 a game. Middle Tennessee with 18,000 students averages about 14,000 per game.
Kenny Saw would like the Blue Raiders to hold their beers…

35,600 students
8,550 avg attendance 2023 YTD

[POD Knows]

We're in the middle of a $80m stadium upgrade. Something tells me $5m wouldn't have been a big deal.Really, I know that endowments really don't tell the whole story about a college but isn't the JSU endowment like 50 million or something. Do you get state funding for this athletic stuff or is it privately funded?

Just for the record I sort of support this fee for the move up, it will keep more dogs from moving up but my gut tells me that if JSU had to pay those vigors to move up that it may have given them pause. The endowments at Sammie and KSU make you guys look like pikers and their endowments are ****.

[JSUSoutherner]

Really, I know that endowments really don't tell the whole story about a college but isn't the JSU endowment like 50 million or something. Do you get state funding for this athletic stuff or is it privately funded?

Just for the record I sort of support this fee for the move up, it will keep more dogs from moving up but my gut tells me that if JSU had to pay those vigors to move up that it may have given them pause. The endowments at Sammie and KSU make you guys look like pikers and their endowments are ****.
Honestly, the expansion has changed so much since it was first announced I'm not entirely sure where the money is coming from at this point.

What I do know is the university has actively been working on this move since 2013. We've got the first phase of the stadium upgrade going in now. Weve also had lot of other campus upgrades like an entirely new baseball stadium and a twice-renovated basketball arena. I know a lot of that money, particularly for the baseball stadium came from private donations.

Moral of the story, contrary to popular belief, JSU was absolutely prepared for the move. I don't think $5m would have moved the needle for us much.

If endowments were indicators of athletic success the Ivies wouldn't be such garbage.

[POD Knows]

Honestly, the expansion has changed so much since it was first announced I'm not entirely sure where the money is coming from at this point.

What I do know is the university has actively been working on this move since 2013. We've got the first phase of the stadium upgrade going in now. Weve also had lot of other campus upgrades like an entirely new baseball stadium and a twice-renovated basketball arena. I know a lot of that money, particularly for the baseball stadium came from private donations.

Moral of the story, contrary to popular belief, JSU was absolutely prepared for the move. I don't think $5m would have moved the needle for us much.

If endowments were indicators of athletic success the Ivies wouldn't be such garbage.
Didn’t say endowments were indicators of athletic success but colleges with low endowments tend to have financial issues. You don’t really know what would have happened at JSU if the 5 million requirement was in place. You are assuming they would have paid it. Does JSU live off of student fees like JMU does? Throw another 5 million on top of everything and it might be an issue.

[JSUSoutherner]

Didn’t say endowments were indicators of athletic success but colleges with low endowments tend to have financial issues. You don’t really know what would have happened at JSU if the 5 million requirement was in place. You are assuming they would have paid it. Does JSU live off of student fees like JMU does? Throw another 5 million on top of everything and it might be an issue.
Nah. Only $1m a year of our athletics budget comes from student fees. Less than NDSU actually.

[POD Knows]

Nah. Only $1m a year of our athletics budget comes from student fees. Less than NDSU actually.xthumbsupx

[bonarae]

From a Facebook comment by a former Griz AD:


“The main question will continue to be... "Where can we find new money to survive where we are?" Television/media rights revenues at the FCS level are minimal... say $100,000 annually for Montana and Montana State, for example (compared to about $6 million annually at Wyoming or up to $90 million at Ohio State). Expenses continue to climb rapidly for scholarships, coaches/staffing, travel, equipment and supplies, insurance, utilities, etc. Aside from significantly raising ticket prices, or student athletic fees, or booster club contributions, most other revenue sources such as that from the NCAA, the conference or corporate sales will probably remain fairly constant - if not decrease with all the conference realignment shuffling taking place. Big money football guarantee games could also become a thing of the past. The only real answers are either to see university coffers providing more funds (which is always frowned upon, and tops more than $7 million per year already) or begin cutting costs. One idea might be to cut allowable football scholarships at the FCS level from 63 to 50 or so, and/or maybe trim some sport offerings, yet keep at least the minimum sports to remain Division I/FCS compliant. At the same time, universities must always take Title IX compliance into any equation. All that said, there's lot of major challenges ahead and tough decisions to be made for most Division I athletic programs... and changes and decision-making are coming fast. Stay tuned, cuz UM and MSU aren't alone!”

[ElCid]

Seriously, there are some "traditional" FCS schools that have made the jump to FBS from FCS and it makes sense - App St, Marshall, Boise St, GA Southern, Coastal, JMU, even Liberty to name a few.

But Sam Houston? UMass? Kennesaw? What were/are they thinking?! Oh well, good luck to ya.

"Even Liberty"? Of all those listed Liberty was probably one in the best position. GaSo might have been one of the marginal ones based on $. Don't know about JMU.

[ElCid]

xcoffeex <sigh>

This again?

For the umpteenth time, transition rules exist because the different levels of competition within the overall NCAA structure have different rules for academic requirements, lengths of eligibility and financial aid. Allowing schools who have built their programs and recruited their rosters under the looser standards of D2 or D3 to compete for a championship against schools who have already been working within the more stringent standards of D1 would be categorically unfair.

Also, for the record, NCAA rules aren't made a formless, faceless beast simply known as "the NCAA". The NCAA is an association of the schools themselves, meaning that the rules that govern college athletics are made by representatives of the schools themselves. So, any coach who wants to whine about how bad the NCAA is screwing things up -- Mack Brown being a recent egregious example -- needs to simply turn their ass around and stomp their clodhoppers into their AD's office or their university president's office to complain about it because those are likely the people who wrote the rules in the first place.

True, but like in politics, there are bureaucrats and "lobbyists" who guide the ADs and presidents. Especially institutional NCAA admin. They don't have to listen to these people. Also, I think it was probably in the interest of all newer FBS schools to push this lest their own moves were diminished by a flood of others behind them. Call it a, "we got in so let's make it hard for anyone else" strategy.

[caribbeanhen]

What makes it even tougher is having no place to go

[wcugrad95]

True caribbeanhen. It take two to tango. FCS -> FBS is now like "decent" player -> portal. You can want to go somewhere, but that doesn't mean that somewhere will be better (or that the somewheres out there even want you).

[Sitting Bull]

What makes it even tougher is having no place to go

Maybe UD should be using their influence to help create a mid Atlantic G5 league. The CAA could be a base to start - I would bet you could convince W&M, Villanova, UNH, Towson, URI and Stony Brook for starters. Then bring in UMass, Army / maybe Temple. It could be football only - leaving CAA all sports intact.

There’s certainly a gap for it. Seems like a better use of energy than being the outlier in any other league.

[caribbeanhen]

Maybe UD should be using their influence to help create a mid Atlantic G5 league. The CAA could be a base to start - I would bet you could convince W&M, Villanova, UNH, Towson, URI and Stony Brook for starters. Then bring in UMass, Army / maybe Temple. It could be football only - leaving CAA all sports intact.

There’s certainly a gap for it. Seems like a better use of energy than being the outlier in any other league.

Maybe they already have and your coming with us

Why did CAA suddenly expand to 16 teams if something wasn’t up?

and the 5 million dollar fee appears just like overnight = 25 million for the departing CAA members alone

[NY Crusader 2010]

"Even Liberty"? Of all those listed Liberty was probably one in the best position. GaSo might have been one of the marginal ones based on $. Don't know about JMU.

Liberty was in the best position institutionally as far as being able to fund the move. Their problem for the longest time was being uninvited to a conference. JMU played it's cards perfectly IMO. Easily could've made the jump 10 years ago but they did it at the right time and went into the right league.

[Sitting Bull]

Then there’s this

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/college-football/article-12610963/Incredible-moment-Utah-football-team-ENTIRE-85-strong-roster-gifted-brand-new-Dodge-Ram-truck-NIL-deal.html

[Green Cookie Monster]

Then there’s this

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/college-football/article-12610963/Incredible-moment-Utah-football-team-ENTIRE-85-strong-roster-gifted-brand-new-Dodge-Ram-truck-NIL-deal.html

Not that beneficial, half the trucks will be in the shop with a check engine light on.

[kalm]

From a Facebook comment by a former Griz AD:

This seems like a more realistic take. Title 9, travel costs for Olympic sports, and scholarship funding levels for all sports will far outweigh the $5 million ante over the long haul. Perhaps even that level of increase on an annual basis.

Very few FCS can easily meet those expense increases. Even the well healed will take pause at it.