Looking at the college football schedule issues I discussed, there are three categories of questions I would have.
The first is questions on the FBS side, like how long these games have been going on and if they are more frequent now than ever before. The second question would be on the FCS side and would concern how valuable the money from these games is and if there is a trickle-down effect to Division II teams. The third category would be about the finances in general, such as if the money they give to teams is worthwhile in the end as well as how many times FCS teams have defeated FBS squads.
One story I found from the Savannah Morning News in 2012 was titled “SSU Reaps Rewards of Moneyball Matchups.” The story discusses FCS program Savannah State, which infamously scheduled games against Oklahoma State and Florida State for the sake of making money. It features interesting quotes from the school’s athletic director, who was quite surprised that the Tigers got so much attention. Unfortunately, I could not find an online version of the story, only the PDF I was able to download.
I also took interest in a 2014 story from the Miami Herald’s Jacob Feldman titled “Money and the College Football Landscape – Checkbooks and Balances.” This story reached out past just one single FCS school, instead looking at several different programs that have taken on these kinds of games. It also detailed the scheduling practices of Miami at the time.
On the odd non-conference games featuring conference games, there’s the store from The Herald-Sun’s Steve Wiseman “Duke wants to follow UNC, Wake Forest on football games.” The story details the information behind the deal between North Carolina and Wake Forest as well as the fact that Duke likes the precedent these two schools have created.
In the area of pro-FCS teams, The Daily Commercial’s Eric Olson had a story three years ago that discussed how the Big Ten would not penalize teams for still playing FCS schools. Along with quotes from commissioner Jim Delaney about his thoughts on playing FCS teams are really good quotes from coaches on the games, specifically then-Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen, who was once the head coach at Southern Utah.
Another good story with a coach’s perspective was The Palm Beach Post’s titled “Fisher not looking down on FCS teams” from last November. This article focused on the thoughts of Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher, who has been one of the activists for playing FCS teams. Considering his background as a former FCS quarterback, it’s interesting to see his opinions on the matter and how he’s determined to push for others to see the points he’s making.
My questions would be:
- Is there a true trickle-down effect from FBS to Division II football programs?
- How much would FCS teams who normally schedule FBS opponents suffer financially if not for these games?
- Is playing FCS — or Division I-AA as they were once known — more prevalent today than ever before?
- What is the average difference financially for FBS programs to schedule another FBS team rather than an FCS team?
- What is the outlook of the four College Football Playoff teams from last year in regards to playing FCS programs?