Which bottom-feeding FBS team would succeed in FCS?

[IndianaAppMan]

Let's exclude any school in any of the BCS conferences because there's no stinking way that they'd get kicked out or want to leave. BCS schools get millions annually from the BCS bowls. No Duke, Northwestern, etc....

Off the top of my head...

U. at Buffalo
Wyoming
Idaho
Akron
Western Kentucky
North Texas
La.-Monroe
La.-Lafayette

[IndianaAppMan]

Oh yeah, Temple

[Johnny5]

Arizona

[ucdtim17]

Temple got kicked out of the BE - it has happened before

[GOKATS]

Idaho never should have left the Big Sky, they were a tough competitor and fit well in FCS (I-AA). It was political pressure with Boise St. moving up and Wash. St. just a few miles up the road across the state line. I don't see them dropping back down, but they're really in a no win situation where they are.

[Hoyadestroya85]

Army..

[furman94]

Idaho, WKU, LA-Monroe

[Ronbo]

09/13/08 vs. North Dakota State Laramie, Wyo. 1:00 p.m. MT

NDSU gets their chance against Wyoming. Let's see how they do.

Idaho beat a then ranked #5 Cal Poly last year. They ended 1-11 on the year. A sad commentary on FCS football.

WKU was 7-5 last year. That's a bottom feeder?

[mmiller_34]

Ball State

[Ronbo]

Hope NDSU can keep it closer than the 53-7 schalacking App. State took at Wyoming.

[mmiller_34]

Hope NDSU can keep it closer than the 53-7 schalacking App. State took at Wyoming.

how long ago was that??

[AppAlum2003]

2004... and it still stings

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=242482751

[JoltinJoe]

Notre Dame.xsmiley_wix

[Mountain Panther]

Let's exclude any school in any of the BCS conferences because there's no stinking way that they'd get kicked out or want to leave. BCS schools get millions annually from the BCS bowls. No Duke, Northwestern, etc....

Off the top of my head...

U. at Buffalo
Wyoming
Idaho
Akron
Western Kentucky
North Texas
La.-Monroe
La.-Lafayette

WKU? Give 'em a break, they just went FBS two years ago!

[SideLine Shooter]

Notre Dame.xsmiley_wix

That is a good one..xthumbsupx xthumbsupx


They might struggle for the first few years...xnodx xnodx

[McTailGator]

Let's exclude any school in any of the BCS conferences because there's no stinking way that they'd get kicked out or want to leave. BCS schools get millions annually from the BCS bowls. No Duke, Northwestern, etc....

Off the top of my head...

U. at Buffalo
Wyoming
Idaho
Akron
Western Kentucky
North Texas
La.-Monroe
La.-Lafayette

I believe UL-Monroe would.

They have a lot of fans that miss the reality of FCS and they have a good recruiting area.

ULL would suck no matter what division they were in.

Stupidest fans in the universe, and an administration who just can't figure out why can't find success or fans. (;


Of course, it might have something to do with Louisiana's MOST successful football programs 75 miles to the east of them and 75 miles to the west of them. LSU and McNeese. xsmiley_wix

We CLEAN up in recruiting in the Lafayette metro area. We got EVERYONE of the cities ALL Metro Conference Football recruits to sign with McNeese. They could not even get players to VISIT by offering them a free lunch.

North Texas might also be able to make some noise. They now have some very nice facilities. Nicer than they did when they played in the SLC.

[YoUDeeMan]

Villanova.

Oh, wait...never mind. xrotatehx

[hawkeye]

Ole Miss. Hotty Toddy. Yuk.

[IndianaAppMan]

Alabama Birmingham.Rice,Tulane,Louisiana Tech,Colorado State,UNLV,Kent State,Bowling Green,Eastern Mich.FIU should have never moved up.

CSU has a pretty decent history; I think they'll be back in bowl games not too long from now.

EMU wouldn't move without CMU and WMU. Too much traditional rivalries within the MAc.

Otherwise, I think these are dead-on.

[danefan]

Army..

Army now falls somewhere in between the top and middle of the CAA.

Army without an FBS schedule to recruit with would be a mid-level Patriot or Ivy team, especially when we are at war.

[Bearkats94]

Texas State

O wait they are in on our level and still suck. Maybe they need to go DII and then they can win.

[813Jag]

Alabama Birmingham.Rice,Tulane,Louisiana Tech,Colorado State,UNLV,Kent State,Bowling Green,Eastern Mich.FIU should have never moved up.
Tulane was never FCS/I-AA.

[Hoyadestroya85]

Army now falls somewhere in between the top and middle of the CAA.

Army without an FBS schedule to recruit with would be a mid-level Patriot or Ivy team, especially when we are at war.

two words... triple option

[Go...gate]

Notre Dame.xsmiley_wix

You beat me to it. Of course, now that Marist is in the PFL, the Patriot League might be willing to re-conisder the Irish for membership. :D ;)

[terrierbob]

Doubt it will ever happen, but the service academies would kick ass most of the time. I'm not sure it would have a huge impact on recruiting, either.

[JDC325]

Let's exclude any school in any of the BCS conferences because there's no stinking way that they'd get kicked out or want to leave. BCS schools get millions annually from the BCS bowls. No Duke, Northwestern, etc....

Off the top of my head...

U. at Buffalo
Wyoming
Idaho
Akron
Western Kentucky
North Texas
La.-Monroe
La.-Lafayette

All of them would suceed. A low FBS team is still a way above AVERAGE FCS team. There are a lot of I-AA NC's in the "bottom" feeding FBS world. Their budgets and facilities allthough below average in the FBS world would be considered at the top of the FCS.

[Blue Hen Nation]

Wyoming
Akron
Western Kentucky

[danefan]

Doubt it will ever happen, but the service academies would kick ass most of the time. I'm not sure it would have a huge impact on recruiting, either.

I agree with you about Air Force and Navy. But not Army. Army is so down its sad.

[danefan]

two words... triple option

They are bringing it back this year. Too bad they've been recruiting for the spread for the last five years.

[SideLine Shooter]

Hope NDSU can keep it closer than the 53-7 schalacking App. State took at Wyoming.

That was the strangest game I have ever seen. In more ways than football too. xrotatehx xrotatehx

[GaSouthern]

2004... and it still stings

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=242482751


It hurt worse than GSU-54 ASU-7 (late in the 4th) that same year? (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=242900290) ;)

[AlphaSigMD]

Word has it that Marshall had a pretty good 1-AA football team...

They've been down in the last few years since they lost Bobby Pruett

[andy7171]

Isn't it safe to say that most of the bottom feeding FBS school used to be successful FCS schools.

Buffalo excluded. :D

[TwinTownBisonFan]

heh... Minnesota ;)

I think it would make sense for Idaho (who doesn't have a real FBS-caliber facility) to come back. Beyond that I think San Jose State would do very well for itself given that CA is such a hotbed for football talent. I think Louisiana Tech would be a good choice to move back as well.

[Cobblestone]

I remember well when Akron was in I-AA (FCS). They were succesful then and I think they would be now.

It wouldn't shock me to see Buffalo playing FCS football in the very near future. How much of a success they'd be I'm not sure.

[UCABEARS75]

La. Tech and Arkansas State.

[danefan]

It wouldn't shock me to see Buffalo playing FCS football in the very near future. How much of a success they'd be I'm not sure.

I'd be shocked. The State of NY is dumping so much money in the UB in general that I don't see them ever moving back to FCS.

What wouldn't shock me though is if Stony Brook is FBS in 10 years. The state has a hard-on for Stony Brook also.xnonono2x

[andy7171]

I'd be shocked. The State of NY is dumping so much money in the UB in general that I don't see them ever moving back to FCS.

What wouldn't shock me though is if Stony Brook is FBS in 10 years. The state has a hard-on for Stony Brook also.xnonono2x

I would think that would be a slap in the face of Hofstra!

[danefan]

I would think that would be a slap in the face of Hofstra!

Ken Lavalle doesn't give a rats a$$ about Hofstra (being a private school). He's the chairman of the NYS Higher Education committee and SBU is in his territory. SBU's stadium is also named after him.

[Cobblestone]

I'd be shocked. The State of NY is dumping so much money in the UB in general that I don't see them ever moving back to FCS.

What wouldn't shock me though is if Stony Brook is FBS in 10 years. The state has a hard-on for Stony Brook also.xnonono2x

What is Buffalo's attendance like? I know they've got a stadium that holds about 30,000 which I think is the minimum size for FBS. Are they able to fill it or even half fill it? If their attendance numbers aren't at a required minimum, could they possibly be forced to FCS?

I don't know if it is enforced or not but I did see once where there is an NCAA regulation that requires an FBS program to maintain a certain attendance level or be forced to the FCS level. Although I don't recall ever seeing this put into action.

[danefan]

What is Buffalo's attendance like? I know they've got a stadium that holds about 30,000 which I think is the minimum size for FBS. Are they able to fill it or even half fill it? If their attendance numbers aren't at a required minimum, could they possibly be forced to FCS?

I don't know if it is enforced or not but I did see once where there is an NCAA regulation that requires an FBS program to maintain a certain attendance level or be forced to the FCS level. Although I don't recall ever seeing this put into action.

I don't know if its ever been enforced but I think they cannot average less than 15,000 over a multi-year period (maybe 3 years?).

UB average attendance:
2007 - 13,568
2006 - 16,417
2005 - 8,914
2004 - 12,185
2003 - 9,414
2002 - 11,244
2001 - 12,251
2000 - 9,765

[andy7171]

What is Buffalo's attendance like? I know they've got a stadium that holds about 30,000 which I think is the minimum size for FBS. Are they able to fill it or even half fill it? If their attendance numbers aren't at a required minimum, could they possibly be forced to FCS?

I don't know if it is enforced or not but I did see once where there is an NCAA regulation that requires an FBS program to maintain a certain attendance level or be forced to the FCS level. Although I don't recall ever seeing this put into action.

We played them in '93 when the stadium was brand new. It was really nice, giant video scoreboard. Barely even filled the lower tier on the home side. Very weird experience.

[CopperCat]

Doubt it will ever happen, but the service academies would kick ass most of the time. I'm not sure it would have a huge impact on recruiting, either.

You're probably right about the recruiting, as most athletes go to the academies for reasons other than sports. I wouldn't be too sure that the people running those academies would give up FBS simply due to the exposure that it gives them on the national stage.

[GeauxLions94]

I believe UL-Monroe would.

They have a lot of fans that miss the reality of FCS and they have a good recruiting area.

ULL would suck no matter what division they were in.

Stupidest fans in the universe, and an administration who just can't figure out why can't find success or fans. (;


Of course, it might have something to do with Louisiana's MOST successful football programs 75 miles to the east of them and 75 miles to the west of them. LSU and McNeese. xsmiley_wix

We CLEAN up in recruiting in the Lafayette metro area. We got EVERYONE of the cities ALL Metro Conference Football recruits to sign with McNeese. They could not even get players to VISIT by offering them a free lunch.

North Texas might also be able to make some noise. They now have some very nice facilities. Nicer than they did when they played in the SLC.

xlolx xlolx xlolx . Tell us what you REALLY think about Oo-La-La.

You're correct on ULM. Nice stadium, big town and good recruiting area. Plus, they have a Division I championship under their belt (something that a supposed school that shall remain nameless in our conference has, but is telling its recruits that it'll be playing in a bowl game in four years).

Another school that could do damage in FCS would be Marshall. Not too far removed on FCS play, but has struggled the past couple of seasons in Conference USA.

[AmsterBison]

Wyoming would do very well, I think - be a great addition too.

[grizband]

09/13/08 vs. North Dakota State Laramie, Wyo. 1:00 p.m. MT

NDSU gets their chance against Wyoming. Let's see how they do.

Idaho beat a then ranked #5 Cal Poly last year. They ended 1-11 on the year. A sad commentary on FCS football.

WKU was 7-5 last year. That's a bottom feeder?
Yes, since they lost to all 5 FBS opponenets. Here is there schedule from last year:

at (6) Florida L 3-49
West Virginia Tech W 87-0
Eastern Kentucky W 26-6
at Middle Tennessee W 20-17
at Bowling Green L 21-41
at Ball State L 12-35
at Indiana State W 56-7
North Carolina Central W 50-14
at Chattanooga W 28-21
Troy L 17-21
Morehead State W 52-12
at North Texas L 26-27

They beat 4 FCS teams, and one sub DI team, while losing to 5 FBS teams, only one of which (Florida) is considered a good team.