A new and better FBS thread

[The_Sicatoka]

No team "joins" a conference.

A conference invites a team that they believe adds value* to the overall group.


*Value is a broad term encompassing sports performance, academic reputation, and most importantly media (money) potential.

[The_Sicatoka]

C-USA only makes sense from one perspective: Use that as the path to the "golden ticket" (FBS initiation). But C-USA has better options in-footprint already.

That said, I believe the smarter path would be to create "C-USA North Division" for them. It gets some northern schools the golden ticket; it gets C-USA membership numbers for a while, in case the next exodus hits them.

"C-USA North Division" would effectively be "Great West 2.0: the FBS edition".

[ByeSonBusiness]

Either the NCAA doesn't enforce the 15k attendance requirement and basically anyone can move up, or they do enforce it and 20+ schools are forced to rejoin FCS. Either way it benefits NDSU. This may be decided by the courts.

I dont think it should be mandatory to maintain 15K in FBS. I I think it's fine to require it to move up. I think the NCAA could justify it by claiming it's a valuable indicator of support, stability, etc.

[56BISON73]

I dont think it should be mandatory to maintain 15K in FBS. I I think it's fine to require it to move up. I think the NCAA could justify it by claiming it's a valuable indicator of support, stability, etc.

The 15k used to be a rolling 3 or 5 year avg I think.

[El_Chapo]

15k is rolling 3 years. EMU for instance had a neutral game at Ford field one year with MSU? with 65,000 fans?
another time a car dealer or donor paid $20,000 tickets at $1 to get 20,000 in .

[BigHorns]

15k is rolling 3 years. EMU for instance had a neutral game at Ford field one year with MSU? with 65,000 fans?
another time a car dealer or donor paid $20,000 tickets at $1 to get 20,000 in .

Yes, at least right now you can buy your "attendance" numbers if needed. Quite a few teams openly cheat the system.
There's no requirement to actually have 15,000 fans there as long as that many tickets are sold. Teams count sold tickets as "attendance"

MAC has a lot of empty stadiums. It's one of the things that gives me pause about joining that conference.
Regardless of published numbers, I'd bet MVFC teams often have more real fans in seats than MAC does.

This is probably what SHSU will also do to qualify for FBS.

The better conferences actually have 15k+ butts in seats, and they get better media deals also.
Who really wants to watch a game with an empty stadium?

[The_Sicatoka]

The rule:

20.9.9.3 Football-Attendance Requirements. [FBS]

Once every two years on a rolling basis, the institution shall average at least 15,000 in actual or paid attendance for all home football games. (Revised: 4/25/02 effective 8/1/04, 4/28/05 effective 8/1/05)

20.9.9.3.1 Counting Attendance. [FBS]

20.9.9.3.1.1 Actual Attendance. [FBS]

For purposes of computing actual attendance figures, an individual may be counted if any one of the following conditions applies: (Revised: 4/25/02 effective 8/1/04, 4/28/05 effective 8/1/05)
(a) Attendees are issued tickets that are collected on admission to the game and retained;
(b) Attendees enter through and are counted by a turnstile that is monitored by a representative of the department of athletics who verifies in writing the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis; or
(c) Attendees enter through a gate at which a representative of the department of athletics counts them individually with a manual counter, and the representative provides a written statement verifying the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis.

20.9.9.3.1.2 Paid Attendance. [FBS]

For purposes of computing paid attendance figures, tickets must be soldfor at least one-third of the highest regular established ticket price as established prior to the season, regardless ofwhether they are used for admission. Tickets sold at less than one-third of the highest regular established price maybe counted as paid attendance only if they are used for admission. Student attendance may be counted as paid attendance if the student pays at least one-third of the highest regular established ticket price or, if the student actually attends the game and any one of the following conditions applies: (Adopted: 4/28/05 effective 8/1/05)
(a) The student paid an athletics fee;
(b) The student paid an institutional fee of which a certain portion was allocated to the department of intercollegiate athletics; or
(c) The student paid no athletics fee, but the institution allocated to the department of intercollegiate athletics a certain portion of tuition income or general operating funds as the equivalent of a student athletics fee.

20.9.9.3.1.2.1 Student Attendance. [FBS]

Student attendance must be verified through one of the following methods: (Adopted: 4/28/05 effective 8/1/05)
(a) Such students are issued tickets that are collected on admission to the game and retained;
(b) Such students enter through and are counted by a turnstile (which is not used by others in attendance) that is monitored by a representative of the department of athletics who verifies in writing the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis; or
(c) Such students enter through a gate (that is not used by others in attendance) at which a representative of the department of athletics counts them individually with a manual counter, and the representative provides a written statement verifying the accuracy of the count on a per-game basis.

20.9.9.3.1.2.1.1 Noncounted Students. [FBS]

Student-athletes and cheerleaders scheduled by the institution to be at the game and students performing services at the stadium (e.g., concessionaires, ticket takers, parking-lot attendants, ushers, grounds keepers) shall not be counted toward meeting the attendance requirements. (Adopted: 4/28/05 effective 8/1/05)

20.9.9.3.1.2.2 Exchange of Tickets With Opponent. [FBS]

For an institution to meet the Football Bowl Subdivision attendance requirements, tickets for a football contest obtained by an institution through an exchange agreement or a purchase agreement with another institution may be used only if sold for at least one-third of the highest regular established ticket price and are used to attend the game. (Adopted: 4/28/05 effective 8/1/05, Revised: 12/15/06)

[The_Sicatoka]

I believe it's EMU that has an alumni fund that "buys" tickets at 1/3 price (see above) to make sure the season average requirement is met every other year.

[taper]

https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2013/11/...ttendance.aspx
Under NCAA rules, these FBS schools have not met 15k attendance the last 2 non-covid years and should be under sanction.
Ball State
Central Michigan
Charlotte
Kent State
UMass
Northern Illinois

Of these, all 3 that were bowl eligible got a bowl in 2019 despite the alleged post season ban.

Main point is the rules don't matter.

[The_Sicatoka]

The "average attendance rule" I can argue either way:

Pro: as some have said, it's a measure for program support

Con: if the school can support the program, isn't some arbitrary attendance minimum potentially taking opportunity from student-athletes ... and we all know the NCAA is all about the student-athlete experience