(02-17-2017 03:08 PM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(02-17-2017 02:59 PM)YNot Wrote:  Excuse my ignorance, but aren't there several FCS institutions that already operate at similar budgets to many of the Sun Belt, MAC, and C-USA schools? Especially recent call-ups like Charlotte, Old Dominion, Coastal Carolina, etc.

WEST: Montana, Montana St., NDSU, South Dakota St., (and Wichita St.)[Idaho and NMSU]
EAST: Liberty, JMU, Delaware, Jacksonville St., Youngstown St. [UMass]

People keep repeating "FBS is too expensive" like it's Gospel, but I'm very familiar with the numbers for Idaho and even without any CFP or FBS conference money Idaho will still lose considerably more money as an FCS school than it would as an FBS Independent.

For the Montanas, who've already basically maxed out the revenue in their markets, maybe it doesn't make sense to go FBS without a conference. But in many other places it may be actually be a better financial decision to go FBS, conference or no.

If you look at the USA Today revenues and costs, the biggest losers are the G5 schools. FCS schools don't have the same deficits as the MAC/CUSA/Sun Belt schools. Some of the AAC schools have the biggest deficits of all.

You not only have the extra 20 football scholarships, but you have to have extra women's scholarships to comply with Title IX, you have to have 2 extra sports (16 minimum instead of 14) and the salary and facilities gap is huge and continuing to grow.

That has to be offset by buy-a-win road games, donations and attendance. For a number of schools, going 3-9 in the Sun Belt means lower attendance than going 10-2 in FCS.