SWAC going FBS? (SCSU nor TSU never got invites to the SWAC but BCU did)
- Thread starter In_The_662
- Start date
Earle
Well-Known Member
But the conference commissioner works for the presidents/chancellors!
TvSportsGuy21
Well-Known Member
I like the commissioner's vision of taking the SWAC and developing it into an FBS conference. Thankfully, he is talking about this as a LONG term plan (like SEVERAL years down the line). In Football, being on the FBS level allows you earn a larger revenue share from the NCAA. In football, you could have 3-4 teams go to bowl games if they have 6 or more wins.
For example, Last year if the SWAC would have been an FBS conference then 4 teams would have been bowl eligible.
- Alcorn State (9-3) won the conference so they get an auto bid to the Bowl tie-in that takes the SWAC champ.
- Southern (8-5) was the runner up and could have gotten an At-Large bid to the next bowl game that they are tied into.
- Alabama A&M (7-5) and Grambling (6-5) could be line for bids as well.
Bowl games give a team a lot of extra revenue for itself and for the conference. The Sun Belt sent 5 total Teams to bowl games in 2019.
For example, Last year if the SWAC would have been an FBS conference then 4 teams would have been bowl eligible.
- Alcorn State (9-3) won the conference so they get an auto bid to the Bowl tie-in that takes the SWAC champ.
- Southern (8-5) was the runner up and could have gotten an At-Large bid to the next bowl game that they are tied into.
- Alabama A&M (7-5) and Grambling (6-5) could be line for bids as well.
Bowl games give a team a lot of extra revenue for itself and for the conference. The Sun Belt sent 5 total Teams to bowl games in 2019.
In_The_662
Deeeeep In The Delta.....
You put yourselves down there last year when you spent less than Valley (under $4 million)
Even with one of the largest athletic budgets in the SWAC, you're still "down there with Valley"
DAHILL
Well-Known Member
we working on big things down here... building a 60 million dollar arena... spending will go up.
What’s your source? I would like to see where you’re getting these figures.
According to the Knight Commission (http://cafidatabase.knightcommission.org/fcs) we spend $10M on athletics in 2018. That’s more than Jackson, Alcorn, Valley, Grambling and Pine Bluff. That would put us in the top half of the conference.
Basebone1898
Well-Known Member
Preach the gospel my brutha!
Basebone1898
Well-Known Member
I have always been in favor of us moving up and taking advantage of the NCAA FBS world! Money is what it’s about, and often times is HBCU folks seem to forget that we do big things when we come together! I don’t think some of us really understand what a few 2026 Fast Food Bowl games can do for our conference. If we transition to FBS, there is no doubt that we will get more bowl deals than plenty of G5 conferences because the world knows we sell tickets. Can y’all imagine the numbers for a 7-5 or 8-4 FBS Grambling or PVAMU playing against North Texas or Rice in a The Fort Worth Bowl while a 8-4 FBS Southern/Jackson State takes on Southern Mississippi in the Mobile Bowl Game? How about a FBS Alabama State taking on UAB in a Birmingham Bowl? 8-4 FBS FAMU vs FAU in a Boca Bowl? The HBCU’s would crap on previous attendance numbers in those bowl games and bring mad money to the table for the weekend.
I know I am dreaming big, but we have to get off out of the back room. We can easily do it if we push together.
I know I am dreaming big, but we have to get off out of the back room. We can easily do it if we push together.
Earle
Well-Known Member
I think the SWAC moving up to FBS is long overdue. It has been more than a quarter of a century since FCS HBCUs moved up from the Division 2 ranks. FAMU tried moving up more than a decade ago, but had to move back down. This is evidence that it is difficult to go this move alone. But collectively, as a conference, is the way to go. As time goes on, the move will become more and more expensive, so I would prefer to see the conference do this sooner than later. As someone suggested recently, there are some member schools better equipped to make the move than others from an attendance standpoint. So, if the conference had, say 5 to 7 years, to prepare for this elevation, that would buy time to increase fan support, generate more revenue, and strengthen recruitment, to make for a smooth transition. But the key is to transition as a conference and not as individual institutions.
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Raoul
Well-Known Member
Explain the benefit of moving to FBS. Maybe I'm just not seeing what it brings. Is it increased money some kind of way. It won't be because we would have four teams in a bowl game because we would barely get 6 wins in. I went back and looked at our out of conference schedule last year. All of our wins came from division 2 teams or less (except North Al)which we wouldn't be playing if we were FBS.
In_The_662
Deeeeep In The Delta.....
Let me put it like this
Valley (for example) can take $240K and get beat down by NDSU and it disappears like a puddle in the summer once it has to go to every other sport AND academics
or Valley can play 2 FBS schools and get $1.2 million (especially a SEC team like Auburn).
That's how recent call ups like App State built their coffers and now they are a top 25 program
But as I said previously, you HAVE to have leadership that understands that if your football program makes $1.2 million, you can't have half of that go to academics and other programs.
bjnt922
Well-Known Member
If there's enough commitment from school Presidents, Athletic Directors, and Alumni during this decade to follow in lockstep with Dr. McClelland's plan. We can be an FBS conference by 2030 at the latest and 2027 at the earliest. The key is we all have to be on one accord in making this happen.
Journalist
Listen up maggots! And that's an order!
True.
TvSportsGuy21
Well-Known Member
Pigging backing off of my previous statement about the SWAC as an FBS Conference with Bowl Games:
I know this is hypothetical but could you imagine those if SWAC Teams with more than six wins last season had a tie-in to the following bowl games?
Alcorn (SWAC Champ)- New Orleans Bowl
Southern (SWAC Runner Up) - Lending Tree Bowl (Mobile)
Grambling State (SWAC At-Large) - Independence Bowl
Alabama A&M - Camellia Bowl (Montgomery)
Just about everyone of these games will be sellout for the allotment of tickets accessed from the SWAC Member schools.
All of a sudden, you can have extra revenue from tickets, tv and ,merchandise. It would all be great for the teams and conference. Plus that's 4 more games that people will watch from home just for the heck of it. Hopefully they would deliver great ratings.
Raoul
Well-Known Member
There wouldn't be too many winning records if there were FBS replacements for the division II and lesser programs that we played
JAG89
THE NEW AMERICA'S TEAM
But the money from those Power 5 programs will be almost twice as much. LSU pays a lower tier FBS program way more than they pay a FCS program and LSU is about to schedule both SU and Grambling for less money than if they played a ULM or a Louisiana Tech. In theory, playing FBS programs strenghten their schedule when playing for a National title. This is why some mid-level FBS programs can go undefeated and still get snubbed by the playoff committee. We are cutting ourselves short if we get too complacent and comfortable at the FCS level. It makes no-sense for college educated folks to not challenge themselves at the next level. If we are too scared to challenge ourselves, we might as well all be DII or lower.
The year Troy beat LSU, they were a FBS program and they received a nice payday of $985k. Most FCS get no more than $500k.
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Journalist
Listen up maggots! And that's an order!
@TvSportsGuy21 also a conference-wide move up means more eyes on the product ... which in turn means an increase in interest ... which theoretically leads into applications and enrollment increases.
Mr. SWAC
F*** THE LAKERS!!!!!!
Lol, that's actually funny.
There's really no comparison man. We've already shown that A&M's budget is up there, but that is still not looking at things from the right perspectives. You have to consider a lot more when deciding to make a move to FBS (no matter alone or as a conference).
- Is the athletics department financially healthy?
- Can you afford to fund the full 85 scholarships?
- Is the university operating financially solvent?
- Can you average the 15k attendance threshold?
- Does the university have the FBS facilities?
- Is the alumni support/backing ($$) there?
- Can you afford coach's salary increases?
- Are you reliant on student athletic fees?
- Strong enrollment #s? 7,500 threshold.
There are a few SWAC schools that I can see meeting most, if not all of these criteria in 10-15 years, and that's:
Probable (7+)
FAMU [weakness; none]
ASU [weakness; 3]
JSU [weakness; none]
SU [weakness; none]
AAMU [weakness; 4,7]
PVAMU [weakness; 2,4]
Most Likely (5-6)
TxSU [1,2,3,7]
GSU [weakness; 3,5,9]
Alcorn [weakness; 2,8,9]
Unlikely (1-4)
UAPB [weakness; 2,4,7,8,9]
MVSU [weakness; 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,9]
If Tennessee State decides to join the SWAC during that timeframe that would give us a strong chance to make an FBS move (with more than half of the SWAC meeting the probable qualifications), and we'd be better positioned to be able to have the "unlikely" schools remain in the SWAC too.
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TvSportsGuy21
Well-Known Member
By still playing the 8 game conference schedule along with an FCS opponent, an FBS opponent (from the Sun Belt/CUSA) , then the SWAC should have at least 3 teams that would be Bowl Eligible (Most likely the Division Champs, and at least one more team).
IMO, I think the SWAC will get 2 Bowl tie-ins to begin and then the NCAA will grant additional tie-ins based on performance during the years. Plus you can also get At-Large bids as well.
Plus the move up will help out in the recruitment of additional players along with a larger student body.... I see this happen several years down the line though with a good strategic plan from Dr McClelland.
Don't forget that we would have to pay out more money also to play these other FBS schools and even the FCS schools compared to what we are doing with FCS schools now.
A lot of low tiered FBS schools arn't making much money off their bowl games with the cost of the travel and tickets they have to buy.
JAG89
THE NEW AMERICA'S TEAM
Scheduling is the key. We shouldn't be playing too many FCS programs and IMO no DII or below programs. 1 power 5 and 1 mid level FBS and 2 FCS should be a nice schedule for us when it comes to additional revenue. The rest should be conference games, with at least 2 or 3 being big rivalry games.
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bjnt922
Well-Known Member
Having our own TV network with a revenue sharing plan among all 12 institutions is key to to helping those in the unlikely category.
the band fan
Baseball Fan
ESPN would up the TV money substantially but you may would have to give up more in terms of events
game guarantees would rise as you could make 3 million with 3 guarantee games
the attendance is a numbers game anyway - I know several FBS schools playing with #'s
in theory - makes way more sense than a pipe dream
game guarantees would rise as you could make 3 million with 3 guarantee games
the attendance is a numbers game anyway - I know several FBS schools playing with #'s
in theory - makes way more sense than a pipe dream
