They are located in Richmond, which is the capital of Virginia. UTA move would be good, and help the Sun Belt get closer to 12. The Dukes have made the playoffs four straight seasons, but the last two put them up with the best. Aug 29, 2018 College Football, College Football Realignment, Eastern Washington Eagles, FBS, FCS, Jacksonville State Gamecocks, James Madison Dukes, NCAA Football, North Dakota State Bison, Sam Houston State Bearkats, UT-Arlington Mavericks, VCU Rams, Virginia Commonwealth Rams Although for some, the FCS was just a one or two year stop as part of its transition to the FBS. It joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2014. As part of the OVC, Jacksonville State is the southernmost member, but it is a comfortable distance to the northern most team, Eastern Illinois. The Eagles would probably be put in the Mountain Division, which would require travel to Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. They do quite well in the FCS on and off the field. 2018: 6-62019: 8-5 (FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl win)2020: 9-1. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football) The travel is not horrendous outside of the trip to New Mexico every other year. Liberty has an 18-6 overall record the past two seasons with a pair of bowl victories and in 2020 the team was ranked in the Associated Press FBS … WKU was in the Sun Belt Conference from 2009-2014 and then joined Conference USA. Yep, and the state now has more FCS schools (Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word). Florida A&M tried this once, and it was a huge mess. Verdict: We would love to see North Dakota State make the transition, but it does not seem likely given some of the logistical constraints. 2015: 2-102016: 4-82017: 1-112018: 5-72019: 7-6 (Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl loss)2020: 2-3. 2012: 4-82013: 6-62014: 7-52015: 3-92016: 2-102017: 2-102018: 3-92019: 3-92020: 2-10. NDSU would be stranded geographically from their closes rivals (ND, SD, SDSU, MT, etc). Some of those teams, … UTA would have good knowledge about the travel costs if they were to play in the Sun Belt. While the AAC and Conference USA are both plausible, the Sun Belt felt most natural. The costs would be enormous especially if the ultimate goal is the FBS. In 2013, the school began full membership of the Sun Belt Conference. There are two natural destinations for EWU with the Pac-12 and Mountain West. LibertyLiberty played in the FCS from 1989–2017 with its last 15 years spent in the Big South Conference. While some schools have moved up from the FCS to the FBS, the winning schools were still in the FCS at the time of their victories. We look first at which geographical area would be best and then look at the additional travel required if they were to move conferences. For C-USA, they would be a natural fit for the East Division while the same would be true for the Sun Belt. Appalachian StateApp State was an FCS program from 1982–2013 and was a member of the SoCon. JMU makes the most sense and is also the program most likely to make the jump. Georgia StateGeorgia State played its first football season in 2009. UTA move would be good, and help the Sun Belt get closer to 12. A total of 19 teams made the move from FCS to FBS during the time period studied. That move has been an overwhelming success. What VCU does have in terms of location also applies to the student body. In part one we looked at how teams have fared in the past. The Jaguars played as an NCAA unclassified team in 2009 and 2010, then played as an FCS independent in 2011 and 2012. This includes the FCS level. That provides a solid footing if they choose to pursue adding a football program. South AlabamaSouth Alabama’s first football season was 2009. The No. I like that one. Here are the 12 teams that have jumped to the FBS since 2008 and their records as FBS programs for each season. It competed as an FCS independent in 2011 before joining the WAC in 2012. The Eagles were a SoCon member before joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2014. ***** FCS schools with FBS ambitions like James Madison, Liberty, Sam Houston State and Eastern Kentucky aren’t officially on the list of Big 12 targets, but the moves of the Big 12 might deeply affect their ambitions of moving to FBS. The reality is go for Pac-12 money (extremely unlikely) or stay put in the Big Sky. Conference USA currently has 14 teams with seven from the West Division located in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. That would make them ideal to be put in either division as needed. North Carolina A&T may be considering the move because of the success that other in-state FCS programs have had when making the jump to FBS. Its last FCS conference was the Gateway Football Conference, which is now the MVFC. Four of the five appearances resulted in a semifinal appearance. JMU sits at the southern edge of the conference, which might make travel costly depending on the scheduling rotation. Transitioning From FCS To FBS Part 2: Potential Teams, Transitioning From FCS To FBS Part 1: Past History, A Review of the Recent College Sports Realignment News, Reexamining the North Dakota State to FBS Argument. Coastal CarolinaCoastal Carolina was an FCS member from 2003–2016. The Southland Conference is a wonderful geographical set up for the teams. In this case, they would face six west opponents and two east opponents each season. The west division would be very similar to New Mexico and would also have to be done every other year. I guess the majority of ULM students come from outside 71201 which probably means those students that left small town LA either take those degrees and move back home or move to Dallas/H-town because they sure as hell don’t move the needle in Monroe. Verdict: The current travel arrangements do not differ much as if they were to play in the Mountain West. Charlotte joined Conference USA in 2015. NC A&T officially drew more than 15,000 fans a home game, more than some current FBS programs. Appalachian State has won four straight Sun Belt titles and five straight bowl games. The school decided to bring back football 60 years later and the 49ers’ first two seasons were as an FCS independent from 2013-2014. Sam’s coverage of the FCS began in 2012 as the sports editor and eventual editor-in-chief of NDSU’s The Spectrum. As mentioned above, the University of North Dakota will be moving to the Missouri Valley Football Conference and it is not hard to see why when their closest in conference opponent is Northern Colorado. There have been some worries expressed by current Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin. The Bison have only won six of the last seven FCS National Championships as of this writing and have clearly been the best team of the decade at the FCS level. The Minutemen joined the MAC in 2013 and have been an FBS independent since 2016. James Madison is a recent addition to the top level of the FCS. They are the most recent teams to transition from the FCS to the FBS. Or the Sun Belt could flip the division from east and west to the north and south while also adding another team to have an even number of teams. 20 Penn State in 1983 (see below), Appalachian State beat No. FCS team wins over FBS teams Non-DI team wins over FCS teams Conference standings Conferences with possibility of playing in the spring. Now we can look at potential jumpers and new programs with the criteria we laid out in the first part. Also consider the Fargodome, which has a capacity of 19,000 for football. 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