I don’t even know why this is even being suggested. Why would the NCAA allow this direct competition in heart of basketball season/championship week/ March Madness? This would be an absolute disaster.

(02-06-2021 08:16 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  I don’t even know why this is even being suggested. Why would the NCAA allow this direct competition in heart of basketball season/championship week/ March Madness? This would be an absolute disaster.

I'm guessing they don't really consider this much competition for the NCAAT.

(02-06-2021 09:50 AM)Curtisc83 Wrote:  Just throwing out the idea of keeping the spring FB season for FCS. Wouldn’t it be watched more since the NFL and FBS don’t have games? Plus it would basically give us football almost the whole year.

Then they have to compete with CBB, NBA, NHL, MLB, and college baseball AND theyd lose payday games

(02-07-2021 02:26 PM)Bobcat2013 Wrote:  

(02-06-2021 09:50 AM)Curtisc83 Wrote:  Just throwing out the idea of keeping the spring FB season for FCS. Wouldn’t it be watched more since the NFL and FBS don’t have games? Plus it would basically give us football almost the whole year.

Then they have to compete with CBB, NBA, NHL, MLB, and college baseball AND theyd lose payday games

This is exactly it times 1,000. In the fall, the only thing that there really is to compete against is MLB. NFL is mainly on Sundays. MLB isn’t really much competition. NBA doesn’t start until November, so it’d be suicide for the fcs to move to spring.

More importantly, ask the OP if they would have supported Liberty playing football in the spring back when they were FCS.

As someone mentioned earlier, I think the biggest reason Spring FCS would be a no-go is the lack of payday games from FBS schools.

(02-08-2021 06:55 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  More importantly, ask the OP if they would have supported Liberty playing football in the spring back when they were FCS.

If we had no aspirations to move up from FCS I think I would of liked to watch LU in the Spring.

(02-08-2021 09:01 AM)Curtisc83 Wrote:  

(02-08-2021 06:55 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  More importantly, ask the OP if they would have supported Liberty playing football in the spring back when they were FCS.

If we had no aspirations to move up from FCS I think I would of liked to watch LU in the Spring.

Haha, yeah right.

(02-08-2021 06:55 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  More importantly, ask the OP if they would have supported Liberty playing football in the spring back when they were FCS.

Yeah, FCS fans don't want this. I also don't think you'd even get that many extra eyeballs on FCS games from FBS fans if the games were in the spring.

(02-08-2021 09:28 AM)TDenverFan Wrote:  

(02-08-2021 06:55 AM)HyperDuke Wrote:  More importantly, ask the OP if they would have supported Liberty playing football in the spring back when they were FCS.

Yeah, FCS fans don't want this. I also don't think you'd even get that many extra eyeballs on FCS games from FBS fans if the games were in the spring.

The games would have to be on linear TV to attract casual fans and it remains to be seen if the networks would value FCS football over the other leagues I mentioned. If everything is stuck on ESPN+ or some other stream then like usual only fans that are invested and seeking out such content will tune in.

The only way I could see this working, and I really don't but if we're talking theoretical bullplop here, is if FCS had a dual-season setup. Say, Sept-Oct. to play OOC games, then March-May for the conference games. No idea if that's even remotely viable. I've heard that college soccer wants to do something like that, but it's never come to fruition.

I would think that any basketball contract would supersede any FCs spring game due to media agreements.

Yeah there's been some other good reasons mentioning why this isn't the best of ideas, but another is that some FCS players are multi-sport athletes (say football and baseball, or football and track and field) and that would mean they couldn't participate in a 2nd sport. Plus, I would bet that facilities at many FCS schools are limited, and having all the sports participating at the same time would put a real strain on the campus facilities and staff.

I think we'll mostly be back to normal by the fall of 2021.

If second tier professional football can't make it in the spring, why would second tier college football?

(02-08-2021 10:48 AM)AssyrianDuke Wrote:  If second tier professional football can't make it in the spring, why would second tier college football?

Because second-tier pro football is cut from whole cloth, whereas FCS is established. The question wasn't "can pro football work in the spring" it's "are people going to watch a new minor-league pro football league," and the answer to that has been a consistent "no," including fall leagues.

I don't see a regular spring season working but I also don't think the people willing to watch FCS in the fall suddenly wouldn't in the spring.

(02-08-2021 08:54 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  As someone mentioned earlier, I think the biggest reason Spring FCS would be a no-go is the lack of payday games from FBS schools.

I'm not necessarily a Spring FCS proponent, but an interesting solution would be to permit FBS schools to host an FCS opponent in a Spring Exhibition game.

While I see the justification for the FCS payday games because of the financial benefits, I am a huge proponent for making FBS-FCS games exhibition only.

(02-08-2021 11:29 AM)YNot Wrote:  

(02-08-2021 08:54 AM)quo vadis Wrote:  As someone mentioned earlier, I think the biggest reason Spring FCS would be a no-go is the lack of payday games from FBS schools.

I'm not necessarily a Spring FCS proponent, but an interesting solution would be to permit FBS schools to host an FCS opponent in a Spring Exhibition game.

While I see the justification for the FCS payday games because of the financial benefits, I am a huge proponent for making FBS-FCS games exhibition only.

Problem is, I think these exhibitions would be useless for both the FCS and FBS schools, so they would be of little value.

Heck, I think there is more interest in intra-squad spring games. That is, I think LSU fans would rather come to the stadium to see a "purple vs gold" LSU spring game than to see LSU play Texas Panhandle State or something.

Most FCS universities do no have IPF to start practice in the winter months. Lot easier to practice in August than February. Plus in August, for the most part, there is not a full academic load.

There is NO push to make this happen from the FCS schools themselves. None. Doesn’t matter if random sports fans MIGHT watch an FCS spring season. That ain’t gonna drive such a monumental change. Despite claims to the contrary by OP, no alums want to see their alma mater shift to spring football.

(02-08-2021 12:50 PM)HyperDuke Wrote:  There is NO push to make this happen from the FCS schools themselves. None. Doesn’t matter if random sports fans MIGHT watch an FCS spring season. That ain’t gonna drive such a monumental change. Despite claims to the contrary by OP, no alums want to see their alma mater shift to spring football.

No, us FCS schools should exist at the folly of random fans who might be channel surfing on a Saturday afternoon, instead of doing what's best for the alumni and ticket holders.

I think William and Mary's season starts early March, but that's right in the middle of basketball season. There's definitely far less buzz around this season than there is a typical year (some of that is certainly Covid related, don't get me wrong).