The Big Ten Conference will stop scheduling FCS teams for non-conference football games, Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez told WIBA-AM radio in Madison.
“The nonconference schedule in our league is ridiculous,” Alvarez said. “It’s not very appealing.” Alvarez went on to say that Big Ten officials have “…made an agreement that our future games will all be Division I schools. It will not be FCS schools.”
Alvarez did not mention when the conference would end the scheduling of FCS teams, but some are saying it could be 2014 when Maryland and Rutgers join the Big Ten.
If it is 2014, there will be at least 24 games against FCS opponents that will need to be canceled. Buyouts for those games could be as much as a few hundred thousand dollars each.
Although this is a bold move by the conference to enhance strength of schedule, it’s also a risky one financially as schools could struggle to fill out their home schedules. It will also hurt the FCS programs that rely on the paychecks from FBS schools to help fund their athletic programs.
The absence of an FCS team on the schedule could also affect bowl hopes for some Big Ten schools, since one win over an FCS team per season currently counts towards bowl eligibility.
Listed below are the FCS schools that each Big Ten team has on their future schedules (including Maryland and Rutgers):
Illinois
- 2013 – Southern Illinois
- 2014 – Youngstown State
- 2015 – Western Illinois
Indiana
- 2013 – Indiana State
- 2014 – Indiana State
Iowa
- 2013 – Missouri State
- 2014 – Northern Iowa
- 2015 – Illinois State
- 2016 – North Dakota State
- 2018 – Northern Iowa
Maryland
- 2013 – Old Dominion
- 2014 – James Madison
- 2015 – Richmond
- 2016 – Howard
Michigan State
- 2013 – Youngstown State
- 2014 – Jacksonville State
- 2015 – Furman
Michigan
- 2014 – Appalachian State
Minnesota
- 2013 – Western Illinois
- 2014 – Eastern Illinois
- 2015 – South Dakota State
- 2016 – Indiana State
- 2019 – South Dakota State
Nebraska
- 2013 – South Dakota State
- 2014 – McNeese State
Northwestern
- 2013 – Maine
- 2014 – Western Illinois
- 2015 – Eastern Illinois
- 2016 – Illinois State
Ohio State
- 2013 – Florida A&M
Penn State
- None
Purdue
- 2013 – Indiana State
- 2014 – Southern Illinois
- 2015 – Indiana State
Rutgers
- 2013 – Norfolk State
- 2014 – Howard
- 2015 – Norfolk State
Wisconsin
- 2013 – Tennessee Tech
View Comments (33)
Good. It's about time.
Yeah, we can't let App. State beat Michigan again, or the Dakota schools beat Minnesota any more.......
<<“The nonconference schedule in our league is ridiculous,” Alvarez said. “It’s not very appealing.” Alvarez went on to say that Big Ten officials have “…made an agreement that our future games will all be Division I schools. It will not be FCS schools.”<<
FCS Schools are Division I schools, it could be backfire within the selection comnmitee of the Basketball "March Madness.
Second, it could start within 2019, because there are not contract obligation to play the game. I gonna think, that a buy-out would be more expensive for the B1G schools.
Really glad to see this, although I don't know if it's practical. The 64 teams in the 5 major conferences will need 220 total non-conference games if the Big 10 does go to 9 conference games, and those games have to come from somewhere.
When Nebraska played FCS bottom feeder Idaho State last year, it was basically the Pro Bowl, where everyone quit when a runner got to the second level. The Athletic Department put out a statement that they tried to schedule a better team, but that team reneged on the agreement. They wanted to get out ahead of it.
Sadly, college football is stuck with bad non-conference scheduling: http://wp.me/p1ZYxe-zm
Next move, Big Ten will lobby to remove the rule that allows one win over an FCS school to count towards bowl eligibility. Which would not be a bad thing!
If that happens, they will have to let 6-6 or 5-7 teams go to a bowl. There may not be enough bowl eligible teams.
I applaud the Big !0 for heading in the right direction, especially as a 4 team playoff is on the horizon. The Big 10 realizes that FCS games detract from strength of schedule, which will be a bigger factor when it comes to deciding the most deserving 4 teams to compete for a national title. There are 110 non Big Ten, but still FBS schools that can be scheduled for non conference games. We will see more teams like App. State, Delaware, and James Madison move up to FBS. Money is the only reason an FBS school played an FCS team. Level of Competition should be the determining factor.
TOM, I'm not sure I agree with your money statement. It's only good money for the FCS team. The FBS team gets an easy win out of the deal, but likely takes a hit of several hundreds of thousands of dollars --- paying the visiting FCS team as much as $1 million for the game and possibly reduced attendance/concessions.
The FBS teams do not take "a hit of several hundreds of thousands of dollars." Actually, it's quite the opposite. FBS teams pay FCS teams usually no more than $500,000. But they make $1-3 million for hosting the game (ticket sales, concessions, etc.).
Take away that extra home game, and there's going to be a lot of athletic departments short of cash.
First BIG10 team to schedule BYU wins.
Wisconsin. 2013.
The Big Ten is nothing compared to SEC FCS scheduling. At least teams from the Missouri Valley, and others such as App State, might at least challenge a cold Big Ten team. The SEC schedules SWAC and other schools that wouldn't even be competitive in the FCS playoffs....
I guess mighty Florida A&M will give Ohio State a battle. Beat and SEC team in the National Title Game or Shut the hell up!
sorry beat an SEC Team....Ohio State they tried twice,failed both times. Oregon, failed. Texas, failed. Notre Dame, that was just sad.
You may want to research a little before you make a blanket statement like this. Most FBS schools schedule teams that are in their geographic region. The FCS schools want to save as much of that paycheck as possible rather than spend it on travel.
SEC teams frequently play Georgia Southern, an FCS powerhouse and almost annual championship contender. But you don't see GSU traveling across the country to play many games. It's just not worth it.
Kendall, FBS teams are paid more for "pay games" than FCS teams. Make no mistake, Big 10 teams will still have "pay games", but Akron (FBS) will charge more than Western Illinois (FCS). It is an interesting standoff in Middle America: The Big 10 has announced that it will not schedule anymore FCS games, while the MAC has announced that it will schedule more home and home games as opposed to playing "pay games" at larger FBS schools. It looks like MAC, Sun Belt, and Conference USA schools will be the targets for Big Ten "pay games". The reason the Big Ten is making this announcement is because SEC teams have a habit of scheduling late season games against cupcake FCS teams. The Big Ten is challenging this SEC practice by making this announcement.
I agree. Though this could be a huge money gain for those conferences. This could hopefully lift the bottom rung of FBS up a bit hopefully.
I didn't think about it in that sense, Tom. Makes perfect sense, now. And hopefully it will close the gap even a little.
I'm well aware of the SEC scheduling habit ... spent 5 years in SEC country. Was never fond of going to see Auburn take on Tennessee-Martin or Alabama A&M in November. Northern Iowa would've been a step up .....
Kendall I agree with you.
I was at the Auburn/Alabama A&M game. It was sad. But why are the shots at only the SEC. Looks like Oregon enjoyed Tenn-Martin last year. All ACC schools schedule at least one sometimes 2 FCS schools each year. Oklahoma State makes a living out of it too...
it's for the better... hopefully it sends a message and other conferences start doing the same thing. we don't need to see anymore of these mismatches...
Methinks that the schools are starting to hear some rumblings from boosters who are tired of buying tickets to see a Michigan play a Delaware State or a Murray State at Wisconsin. But I do think there is a benefit of a Indiana or a Minnesota playing a FCS team as they really are years away from being a BCS Bowl type of team and should be able to schedule for wins. I think its the top tier of the FBS teams that really need to stop scheduling these games and be more willing to play on the road (hello Florida).Schools should be rewarded for a SOS like they were just a few years ago when Ohio State,Georgia and USC all went on the road to play quality teams. Its hard to look at Alabama as a real national champion when you spot a Western Carolina or a Georgia State on their schedule.
Jinzo will you say that next year if Ohio State wins it all with that win of FAMU on the docket? How about if Oregon wins the National Title...they do play Nichols State. I hate Alabama but damn Jinzo be real
If you want to complain about one of Alabama's titles pick 1941. They lost to Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, finished 18th in the AP poll yet they claim that as a National Title winning team.