Not necessarily a realignment question:

With the exposure the FCS received from the springtime broadcast of their games, would a move to a spring schedule be more beneficial to the league? I can't believe the number of people talking about the programs and their strengths this past spring. It's as if the fans didn't know FCS existed. And not going uo against the "Big Boys" on TV was an advantage on Saturdays.

Recruiting for both the FBS and FCS may actually benefit from such a split. As well as transfers.

Absolutely not! Football is meant to be played in the fall. Period. End of story. And how can the FCS play their buy games against P4 schools if the FCS is playing the spring.

Good topic. I don't know, but it's definitely worth discussing. FCS is completely buried in the fall by FBS and NFL. Running in the Spring it would only be competing with College Baseball --many of us who never watched FCS watched it in the Spring-- so there is an opportunity.

This would be fighting tradition such as home comings and and would make it impossible to get revenue games. No HBCU schools being paid big money to bring their bands ... and the football team too ..., and no NFL prospects (it's not like there are more than 50 serious candidates at any given time playing in FCS at any given moment who will turn pro in the next two years, but still) would play in FCS; that'd force NDSU to FBS. And then the schedules would be all messed up.

On balance I think the answer is no, as spring football for FCS puts TV ahead of everything else. 2020-21 was a one off.

(09-17-2021 04:51 PM)goofus Wrote:  Absolutely not! Football is meant to be played in the fall. Period. End of story. And how can the FCS play their buy games against P4 schools if the FCS is playing the spring.

Buy games may be going away.

(09-17-2021 05:16 PM)Scoochpooch1 Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 04:51 PM)goofus Wrote:  Absolutely not! Football is meant to be played in the fall. Period. End of story. And how can the FCS play their buy games against P4 schools if the FCS is playing the spring.

Buy games may be going away.

Says who? As long as many of the top schools "have" to play seven home games a year, who are going to play the road games?

(09-17-2021 04:27 PM)The WEST is the BEST Wrote:  Not necessarily a realignment question:

With the exposure the FCS received from the springtime broadcast of their games, would a move to a spring schedule be more beneficial to the league? I can't believe the number of people talking about the programs and their strengths this past spring. It's as if the fans didn't know FCS existed. And not going uo against the "Big Boys" on TV was an advantage on Saturdays.

Recruiting for both the FBS and FCS may actually benefit from such a split. As well as transfers.

Bolded 1: No. Not only do you have to deal with what TV slots are available after NCAA basketball slots are given, a spring season is impacted by the spending over Christmas from the fans as how much longer would they purchase season tickets and the local spring breaks will have little gates.

Bolded 2: Not sure how a HS senior benefits from two separate seasons and a transfer does if he'd play another season weeks after finishing a FBS one.

(09-17-2021 06:46 PM)schmolik Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 05:16 PM)Scoochpooch1 Wrote:  

(09-17-2021 04:51 PM)goofus Wrote:  Absolutely not! Football is meant to be played in the fall. Period. End of story. And how can the FCS play their buy games against P4 schools if the FCS is playing the spring.

Buy games may be going away.

Says who? As long as many of the top schools "have" to play seven home games a year, who are going to play the road games?

You want me to list every source that's talked about this the past year?
Here's one that puts forth the argument due to CFP: https://sportsenthusiasts.net/2021/06/28...-obsolete/

And Saban mentions playing more conference games here, which means potentially fewer FCS games: https://www.cbssports.com/college-footba...nto-focus/

(09-17-2021 04:51 PM)goofus Wrote:  Absolutely not! Football is meant to be played in the fall. Period. End of story. And how can the FCS play their buy games against P4 schools if the FCS is playing the spring.

You could experiment with a split schedule where you play your OOC in the fall and your in-conference in the spring. I've heard that soccer might go in that direction. And some sports do year-round schedules already (tennis has individual tournaments in the fall and team play in the spring, I think?). But none of those sports are football, so that presents tons of unique challenges.

Probably too counterintuitive to work. I mean, was anyone here more likely to watch FCS football this past spring than they have in other falls?

My understanding was the viewership was generally disappointing.

(09-17-2021 07:29 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  My understanding was the viewership was generally disappointing.

As much as people love football I believe springs leagues are just subject to people being football fatigued and needing the break.

This topic has been discussed at length on FCS forums. Bottom line, there’s not much interest in Spring ball.

No, spring ball sucked.

(09-17-2021 07:29 PM)arkstfan Wrote:  My understanding was the viewership was generally disappointing.

It was quite bad, I think the quarterfinal game between NDSU and Sam Houston lost to run-of-the-mill horse racing in TV ratings. ESPN only picked up a handful of regular season games, only one of which involved a playoff caliber team (Delaware, at Delaware State), so it wasn't like there was a lot of exposure gained by showcasing perennial contenders like NDSU and JMU all spring.

But the big thing is operating off-cycle from the rest of college football and the negative impact it would have on staffing and recruiting. Northern Iowa lost its OC to an NFL gig like a week and a half before the first game. Eastern Washington lost multiple coaches DURING the season.. Montana State didn't play, but their HC got hired away by Sark when he was staffing up at Texas. It would be an abject disaster to make stuff like that a regular part of FCS. That's before we ever get to the strain that puts on event staff, SIDs, and any facility overlap football might have with spring sports at some schools. It's just not a good idea.

(09-17-2021 04:51 PM)goofus Wrote:  Absolutely not! Football is meant to be played in the fall.

Sometimes, spring football can be great.