(12-16-2016 12:34 AM)lakesbison Wrote: Hey guys!
Serious question, NDSU off of 5 straight titles, beating most of your members along the way..
just how bad would NDSU dominant the Sun Belt... Discuss..
*and yes I wish NDSU was FBS..and im just having some fun :) *
First of all, congrats on your excellent seasons.
I think you'd find that some of your close games would turn into losses. You're far better than FCS. I'd legitimately place you around 65-70 in FBS. Which would put you around 6-2 in the Belt. And you'd probably lose 1 OOC game a year too. So somewhere around 7-5 to 9-3 or so.
Remember, that every Sun Belt team you faced would be able to hang with you, so you'd end up getting beat up in your games. If you stay healthy, you'd do well, but injuries happen far more frequently at this level, mainly because you'd probably have to leave all your starters in for the full games and they'd be playing against guys as strong and frequently bigger than your guys.
Remember, you are a basically a flagship in a league full of small privates and smaller regional schools. Even in the Belt, you'd be playing against schools that are usually bigger than you are and who could recruit as well as you do. Basically, your advantage in FCS would turn into a steep talent/size/recruiting curve in FBS. You could do it well, but its not as easy as it might seem.
NDSU could be like Georgia Southern their first year in the league. Or they could be like South Alabama this year, with a few 'wow' upsets that struggled with the overall grind of FBS football.
What we've seen so far (in the Belt and CUSA) with the move ups. Teams moving up do surprisingly well in their first or second year, then struggle when the impact of the asymmetrical classes hits.
I think everyone recognizes that NDSU is in FCS simply because of geography. But I don't think you'd dominate the league as much as you might think. You've got a great program, and one that would be in FBS if you weren't so far away from the FBS conferences....but dominate....I'm not sure. FBS is different than FCS.
Best of luck against JMU.