{"id":5568,"date":"2013-06-27T23:50:01","date_gmt":"2013-06-28T03:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5568"},"modified":"2013-06-27T23:50:01","modified_gmt":"2013-06-28T03:50:01","slug":"study-shows-fcs-schools-struggle-in-transition-to-fbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5568","title":{"rendered":"Study Shows FCS Schools Struggle in Transition to FBS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bridgeforth-at-night.jpg\"><img data-attachment-id=\"3105\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?attachment_id=3105\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bridgeforth-at-night.jpg?fit=1024%2C698\" data-orig-size=\"1024,698\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"bridgeforth at night\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bridgeforth-at-night.jpg?fit=300%2C204\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bridgeforth-at-night.jpg?fit=1024%2C698\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-3105\" title=\"bridgeforth at night\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bridgeforth-at-night.jpg?resize=573%2C391\" alt=\"\" width=\"573\" height=\"391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bridgeforth-at-night.jpg?w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/bridgeforth-at-night.jpg?resize=300%2C204 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 573px) 100vw, 573px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>As reported by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blackmountainnews.com\/article\/20130626\/SPORTS\/306260037\/Study-forecasts-struggles-for-ASU\">Black Mountain News<\/a>, a recent NCAA study highlights the struggles many FCS teams have had after transitioning to FBS. The study tracked 19 schools that made the move up between 1978 and 2010. The main takeaway from it seems to be that it&#8217;s harder to win in FBS. Well, duh. Of course it&#8217;s more difficult to win when playing at a higher level.<\/p>\n<p>Below are a couple of the key findings of the study, along with my thoughts on each.<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Football teams&#8217; average winning percentage fell almost 11 points, from 55.7 to 44.8 after the move up. &#8211;<em>\u00a0Not surprising and definitely not encouraging.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>The percentage of winning seasons dropped from 64.4 to 37.2 &#8211; <em>So the majority of the time these schools were on the good side of .500 in FCS, but then things pretty much flipped around after a jump? Not good.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>6 of the 19 schools tracked, actually had a higher overall winning percentage and a higher percentage of winning seasons after making the jump &#8211; <em>So you&#8217;re telling me there&#8217;s a chance? Yes, and the odds actually aren&#8217;t insurmountable.\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Almost 90% of all NCAA Championships are won by teams from automatic qualifying conferences &#8211; <em>I suppose I would find this more interesting (or even relevant) if an FCS team was trying to choose between moving up to join a AQ conference or a non-AQ conference. It&#8217;s hard to beat LSU, Bama, etc. Thanks for sharing people who did the study.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>FCS schools in the top quartile sponsor an average of 23.6 teams, while bottom quartile FBS teams only sponsor an average of 16.8. &#8211; <em>JMU already sponsors the minimum of teams for a DI program, and would probably need to add a women&#8217;s team to account for the increased number of football scholarships related to a move up.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Student fees were increased by an average of $1.2 million dollars after making the move to FBS. &#8211; <em>This might sound worse than it actually is. For JMU that would be around 70 bucks a student. JMU&#8217;s fees are already on the high end though.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What Does It All Mean for JMU?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It depends on your perspective. I&#8217;ve tried to avoid writing about or discussing conference realignment much, because I find it sort of a fruitless exercise. I understand and appreciate why some fans are so passionate about it, but I find it extremely frustrating when some of their arguments seem to favor emotion over logic. A lot of people will see what they want to see in this anyway. Some folks will take it as proof JMU should sit tight, while others probably think JMU has what it takes to be like the 6 programs who bucked the general trend.<\/p>\n<p>While I personally think JMU should and will make a move eventually, this study reinforces my belief that it&#8217;s a much riskier decision than many fans believe it is. And screaming and calling for people&#8217;s heads, isn&#8217;t going to make things go any faster. A move up to FBS is going to cost money and history shows us that it could very well lead to some tough times on the field. JMU has a number of attributes that could help it beat the odds and actually succeed in FBS, if the right fit is found. Maybe I&#8217;m naive, but I honestly believe the administration is carefully trying to find that fit and not just sitting on their asses watching other schools go.<\/p>\n<p>Again, I think JMU will eventually make the move to FBS. It probably won&#8217;t happen immediately, but I&#8217;m not pressing the panic button just yet. As fans, we might all sleep a little easier if we accept that the powers that be have more information about realignment than we do, and trust that they&#8217;re trying to do what is best for JMU. Assuming incompetence isn&#8217;t going to ease your pain.<\/p>\n<p>So if you want to freak out, make up a bunch of rumors to keep the conversation going, and call for Jeff Bourne&#8217;s head, have at it. I&#8217;m not going to stop you. Life is too short for me to get all worked up about something that is 100% beyond my control though. I&#8217;d prefer to let others do their jobs, while I enjoy this upcoming football season. A move to FBS is a big decision that comes with a lot of risk. But something tells me that with an uptick in enthusiasm and support for the program, it will seem a whole lot less risky to the administration. They didn&#8217;t build new Bridgeforth because fans bitched about old Bridgeforth and stayed away in droves. They built it because people packed the tiny old stadium and made it seem like a no-brainer to expand.<\/p>\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fjmusportsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D5568&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As reported by Black Mountain News, a recent NCAA study highlights the struggles many FCS teams have had after transitioning to FBS. The study tracked 19 schools that made the move up between 1978 and 2010. The main takeaway from it seems to be that it&#8217;s harder to win in FBS. Well, duh. Of course [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[284],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3361,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=3361","url_meta":{"origin":5568,"position":0},"title":"JMU Outdraws A Lot of Crappy FBS Teams","date":"December 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The NCAA released its final attendance figures for the 2011 college football season last Saturday. Like most things associated with NCAA bookkeeping, the numbers are a little suspect. Actually, they are flat out inflated. Accounting hijinks aside, JMU \u00a0had the second highest official average attendance in FCS, finishing just behind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/bridgeforth-stadium-crowd.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9858,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=9858","url_meta":{"origin":5568,"position":1},"title":"Guest Post: What Can We Learn from Other FBS Jumpers?","date":"October 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Shrowder won last week's prediction contest. Here he takes a look at a former FCS school that recently made the jump to FBS and wonders if it was worth it.\u00a0 We\u2019re in the middle of one of the best seasons in JMU football history. The Dukes are 7-0, have the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/041616-JMU-FTB-Spring-Game1-DL.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4026,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=4026","url_meta":{"origin":5568,"position":2},"title":"About These Appalachian State to the CAA Rumors","date":"June 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"If you haven't heard by now, the CAA \"formally contacted\" College of Charleston, Davidson, and Appalachian State last week. There are also rumors that Elon and Furman are under consideration. We don't know what the \"formal\" contact consisted of, but it's safe to assume that it was an attempt to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/app-state-entrance.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1768,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=1768","url_meta":{"origin":5568,"position":3},"title":"Umass to the MAC and the CAA","date":"November 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The news broke today that UMass might be leaving the CAA to play football in the MAC. If it happens, UMass would play a provisional FBS schedule the next two seasons and then join their new conference in 2013. It also so happens that just yesterday the powers that be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7952,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=7952","url_meta":{"origin":5568,"position":4},"title":"Guest Post: FCS is Fine By Me","date":"September 10, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Andrew came closest to predicting the final score for last week's game. As a result, he won the chance to guest post. Here's his take on why JMU should stay put in the FCS Hey guys, I'll preface this the way I did last time I did this: I'm not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/LQHOFXTAKTLOTFA-1.20130405195602.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5460,"url":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/?p=5460","url_meta":{"origin":5568,"position":5},"title":"JMU Picked to Finish 6th in Conference Fans Think JMU Is Too Good For","date":"May 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sporting News has released the first FCS preseason poll and conference predictions for the upcoming season. JMU is unranked. While I haven't been able to track down an official reason why JMU was left out of the rankings, logic dictates that it's because the Dukes are a lock to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;JMU Football&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/jmusportsblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/LQHOFXTAKTLOTFA-1.20130405195602.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5568"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5568"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5579,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5568\/revisions\/5579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jmusportsblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}