(11-02-2021 06:59 PM)Milwaukee Wrote: It may be useful to recap the history of NCAA divisions:
"From 1906 to 1955, the NCAA had no divisional structure for member schools."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Divis...ubdivision
I. 1957: University/College Divisions (basketball)
"The University Division began for purposes of college basketball....the NCAA would hold separate basketball tournaments for major schools and smaller colleges."
"156 major schools would compete for 24 spots in the "NCAA University Division tournament," while 285 smaller schools in the "College Division" would compete for 32 spots in the "NCAA College Division Tournament."
II. 1962: University/College Divisions (football)
"140 major college football teams were recognized as being part of the "University Division" for purposes of football. Another 370 schools were placed in the "College Division." "
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_University_Division
III. 1973 restructured to NCAA Divisions I, II, and III
"The University Division was renamed Division I, while the College Division was split in two; the College Division members that offered scholarships or wanted to compete against those who did became Division II, while those who did not want to offer scholarships became Division III."
The College Division tournaments were split into Division II and III tournaments, and these have continued to the present day.
IV: 1978 (football)- DI divided into D1-A (now "FBS") and D1-AA (now "FCS")
For football only, Division I was further subdivided in 1978 into Division I-A (the principal football schools), Division I-AA (the other schools with football teams), and Division I (those schools not sponsoring football)."
"In 2006, Division I-A and I-AA were renamed "Football Bowl Subdivision" (FBS) and "Football Championship Subdivision" (FCS), respectively."
1998-2013 - FBS Bowl Championship Series
2013-present - FBS College Football Playoff
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Divis...BS_and_FCS
.......
Eight original Division I-A conferences (in 1978):
ACC, Big10, Big(8-12), MAC, PAC(10-12), SEC, SWC (to '96), & WAC (to '98)
Four newer FBS conferences:
Big East/AAC (1991), CUSA (1995), MWC (1999), SBC (2013)
Current number of FBS schools: 130
Schools that started playing in the FBS in/after 1978: 30
UNLV
Akron^
Louisiana Tech
Nevada*
Arkansas State^
Louisiana–Monroe^
North Texas^
Boise State*
UCF*^
Marshall*^
Buffalo*^
Middle Tennessee^
UAB^
UConn^
South Florida*
Troy^
Florida Atlantic^
FIU^
Western Kentucky*^
UMass
Texas State
South Alabama
UTSA (#15, AP)
Georgia State
Georgia Southern^
Appalachian State*^
Old Dominion
Charlotte
Coastal Carolina*^
Liberty*
*Has had at least one FB team in the final AP top 25
^Has won at least one conference championship
Conferences-You left out the PCAA/Big West. It was a football conference from 1969-2000. Not sure when it became Division I/FBS, but it definitely was in the late 80s. Several other conferences were I-A before the 1982 move-down. Ivy, Missouri Valley, Southern and Southland were.
Haven't verified how accurate Wiki is on this, but it looks about right with a quick glance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_NCAA_...all_season
"...Conference changes and new programs
Before the 1982 season, a total of 41 NCAA Division I-A teams, including three conferences and all of their members, were shifted from Division I-A to Division I-AA:[4]
Ivy League — Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale
Southern Conference — Appalachian State, Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Furman, Marshall, The Citadel, VMI, and Western Carolina
Southland Conference — Arkansas State, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, McNeese State, and Texas–Arlington
Southwestern Louisiana, who had been a member of the Southland during the 1981 season, remained in Division I-A as an Independent.
Most of the Missouri Valley Conference football schools were also reclassified. This began the few years where the MVC hosted both 1-A and 1-AA teams. Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois, and West Texas State did not meet 1-A standards and were reclassified to 1-AA. New Mexico State, Tulsa, and Wichita State remained in 1-A.
School 1981 Conference 1982 Conference
Alabama State D-II Independent SWAC (I-AA)
Colgate I-A Independent I-AA Independent
Georgia Southern Revived Program I-AA Independent
Holy Cross I-A Independent I-AA Independent
Northeast Louisiana I-A Independent Southland
North Texas State I-A Independent 1-AA Independent
Richmond I-A Independent I-AA Independent
Western Kentucky Ohio Valley I-AA Independent
William & Mary I-A Independent I-AA Independent
Independent Cincinnati and MAC schools Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Miami (OH), Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Western Michigan were all reclassified as well.
The University of Cincinnati filed an injunction against the NCAA to postpone their demotion until after the 1982 season, and was successful in remaining in 1-A.[5]
Of the ten schools in the MAC, initially only Central Michigan and Toledo maintained 1-A status. Bowling Green, Northern Illinois, Miami, and Western Michigan all made appeals and the conference as a whole was granted the ability to remain at the 1-A level.[6]..."