Question..

[bostonspider]

We often talk about schools moving up to FCS from D-II, but what was the last school to move the opposite way, from FBS to FCS or at the time I-A to I-AA? People say Temple should make the move, but has anyone done it since the 80's?

[DTSpider]

If I had to guess, I'd say that UR was the last one to do so in 1983. I can't think of anyone else that would be mmore recent. At this point I'm not sure the money would justify moving from 1A to 1AA based on the rule changes. If I'm not mistaken, there were some early rules (or maybe just proposed rules) about playing just 1A games if you were 1A which caused a lot of the early 1980s movements.

[BeauFoster]

If I had to guess, I'd say that UR was the last one to do so in 1983. I can't think of anyone else that would be mmore recent. At this point I'm not sure the money would justify moving from 1A to 1AA based on the rule changes. If I'm not mistaken, there were some early rules (or maybe just proposed rules) about playing just 1A games if you were 1A which caused a lot of the early 1980s movements.


What about Nova? Were they 1-A before dropping football? It's a little different scenario, but still along the same lines.

[DFW HOYA]

We often talk about schools moving up to FCS from D-II, but what was the last school to move the opposite way, from FBS to FCS or at the time I-A to I-AA? People say Temple should make the move, but has anyone done it since the 80's?

Last I-A I remember dropping down was Holy Cross in 1987.

[Model Citizen]

I think this has been discussed here before. The last I-A to I-AA moves were in '82, as the result of the attendance requirement purge. That is, the Ivy, Missouri Valley, Southland, et al. played their last I-A seasons in '81. See page 186 of the 2007 NCAA Records Book.

Subsequent I-As dropping out (last was Pacific following the '95 season) got rid of football altogether.

A similar subject that comes up every few months is the last I-A to drop to a lower level of football. That was West Texas A&M, which went D-II for the '86 season.

[TheValleyRaider]

A real interesting story is Birmingham Southern, who was D-I, but didn't have football. They recently dropped to D-III, but in the process added a football team.

Not quite what you're looking for, but interesting, I think

[OL FU]

I thought it was FAMU. Not sure when but it was fairly recent. They moved up and then moved back down

[813Jag]

I thought it was FAMU. Not sure when but it was fairly recent. They moved up and then moved back down
Did they offically move up? In 04 they played a non MEAC schedule and the next year they played a full MEAC schedule.

[bostonspider]

Last I-A I remember dropping down was Holy Cross in 1987.

Holy Cross won the Patriot League title in 1986, so they must have dropped down prior to that. They played in the I-AA playoffs in 1983. I think they moved in 1981.

[jessesd]

I thought it was FAMU. Not sure when but it was fairly recent. They moved up and then moved back down

I think it was their exploratory year, so it may not count. The Gators were their first game, afterwards we heard all kind of crazy rumours about FAMU the botched move.

[813Jag]

I think it was their exploratory year, so it may not count. The Gators were their first game, afterwards we heard all kind of crazy rumours about FAMU the botched move.
They played Florida in 03 (third game of the year), they played an independent schedule the next year.

[bostonspider]

According to FAMU's website, "Florida A&M applied to the NCAA to move the football program to I-A in June 2003, but after much study and research, announced in the Spring of 2004 that the Rattler would remain in I-AA" So I guess they never officially moved divisions.

[CrusaderBob]

Holy Cross won the Patriot League title in 1986, so they must have dropped down prior to that. They played in the I-AA playoffs in 1983. I think they moved in 1981.

When the NCAA instituted stadium size and attendance criteria to be categorized as then Division I-A, several schools were forced into the then I-AA category, including the Ivys. Holy Cross was part of that reclassification as well. I believe the reclassification was effective beginning in the 1982 season.

............ [EDIT]

I knew it was out there on the web someplace. It took me a few minutes to find it. Here's a page that describes a bit about the history of teams being classified as FCS (the Division Formerly Known as I-AA)

http://www.i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=53435

Notice that when this was written (2005) there were 24 teams that had been I-AA for 23 seasons - the 24 teams that had to re-classify in 1982 as a result of the stadium and attendance minimums I mentioned above.

[Model Citizen]

Yes. It's all available online. See page number in my previous post.

[jcf5445]

It goes a little bit like this:

Division I-AA was formed in 1978. Schools were given until 1982 to pick which subdivision they wanted to be a part of, but the following DI schools moved into I-AA right away:

Alcorn State, Grambling State, Idaho, Jackson State, Mississippi Valley State, Northwestern State, Prairie View A&M, Southern, Texas Southern


In 1981 a few more schools dropped down:

Drake, Tennessee State, West Texas A&M


In 1982, the schools that did not meet certain requirements were either forced down, or did so willingly:

Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Ball State, Bowling Green State, Brown, Central Michigan, Citadel, Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, East Tennessee State, Eastern Michigan, Furman, Harvard, Holy Cross, Illinois State, Indiana State, Kent State, Lamar, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, McNeese State, Miami OH, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Richmond, Southern Illinois, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Texas-Arlington, Toledo, Virginia Military, Western Carolina, Western Michigan, William and Mary, Yale


The only other schools to ever leave DI-A are those who dropped football:

Villanova (Last season - 1980), Wichita State (1986), Long Beach State (1991), California State-Fullerton (1992), Pacific (1995)

Southern Methodist sat out 2 seasons (1987 and 1988) after they were hit with the death penalty.


No other school has ever dropped out of Division I-A. The only team to ever drop down out of Division I-AA that hasn't come back is West Texas A&M, which went D2 in 1986.

The former DI-AA schools that no longer play football are:

Texas-Arlington (1985), Lamar (1989 - returning soon), Boston (1997), Evansville (1997), California State-Northridge (2001), Canisius (2002), Fairfield (2002), Morris Brown (2002), Saint John's (2002), East Tennessee State (2003), Saint Mary's (2003), Siena (2003), Saint Peter's (2006), La Salle (2007)

Also, Prairie View A&M did not field a team in 1990, and Southeastern Louisiana did not field a team from 1986 through 2002.

The following schools dropped from DI-AA, but later returned:

Drake (1985, returned 1993), Davidson (1988, 2000), Portland State (1980, 1996),

[Model Citizen]

In 1981 a few more schools dropped down:

Drake, Tennessee State, West Texas A&M

The record book screwed up Drake's entry (says I-AA "1992-1985"). Like every other program that failed to meet the four-year average, they were dropped from I-A for the '82 season. Google is your friend.

[DFW HOYA]

Holy Cross won the Patriot League title in 1986, so they must have dropped down prior to that. They played in the I-AA playoffs in 1983. I think they moved in 1981.

Correct, since they were in the 1983 I-AA playoffs per this link.

http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/patriot/holy_cross/yearly_results.php?year=1980

[Franks Tanks]

Good thing the MAC was jettisoned to the doldrums of FBS--they all stink (most of the time) xlolx

[jcf5445]

Good thing the MAC was jettisoned to the doldrums of FBS--they all stink (most of the time) xlolx

The MAC schools were only considered DI-AA in 1982. They were back in I-A in 1983. They're kind of an in between conference, like the Sun Belt. The only difference is that the Sun Belt has a few programs with up side, while the MAC seems to be in a permanent state of mediocrity. They'll have a good team every now and then, like Marshall and Miami OH a few years back with Pennington and Roethlesberger, but 9 out of 10 MAC schools are going to stink it up year in and year out.

[Franks Tanks]

The MAC schools were only considered DI-AA in 1982. They were back in I-A in 1983. They're kind of an in between conference, like the Sun Belt. The only difference is that the Sun Belt has a few programs with up side, while the MAC seems to be in a permanent state of mediocrity. They'll have a good team every now and then, like Marshall and Miami OH a few years back with Pennington and Roethlesberger, but 9 out of 10 MAC schools are going to stink it up year in and year out.

Many MAC schools dont even meet minimum D-I attendance standards yet they are allowed to remain. Eastern Michigan and Kent specifically have drawn miserable attendance for years. Eastern Michigan is especially pathetic and they would envy the programs of many FCS schools.

[jcf5445]

Many MAC schools dont even meet minimum D-I attendance standards yet they are allowed to remain. Eastern Michigan and Kent specifically have drawn miserable attendance for years. Eastern Michigan is especially pathetic and they would envy the programs of many FCS schools.

That's true. Last season, only 1 MAC school averaged over 20000 fans, and that was Temple, who more than doubled their attendance from previous years. 4 members were below the 15000 limit (Buffalo, Ball State, Kent State, and Eastern Michigan). No other FBS conference had that many (WAC had 3, Sun Belt and CUSA had 1 each). If you include Western Kentucky in the figures, the Sun Belt actually outdrew the MAC last season 16366 to 16220, placing the MAC in last place in FBS. However, last in attendance in FBS is still significantly higher than the Gateway's 1st place in FCS mark of 12307 (home stadium attendance only SWAC and MEAC fans).

But like I said earlier, the MAC just doesn't have any upside to it at all. Attendance is pretty much constant, and those schools at the bottom will never be booted out of FBS because the MAC is a well run organization that does a good job of protecting its own.

I guess all of this is why I said that the MAC is an in between conference. It's really caught between a rock and a hard place. The members are not quite good enough to compete with the upper tier of FBS, but they have traditions and facilities that put it - in my opinion, many may disagree, lol - a slight step ahead of the FCS.